by PressCorn exports from Argentina will drop due to the drought
Corn exports from Argentina are declining: reasons
The season is not going well for farmers in Argentina. From March to June, corn exports fell by 40% compared to the 2021-2022 season. Farmers blame the decline on a decrease in acreage caused by a severe drought in the country.
According to the Rosario Grain Exchange, corn supplies during the marked period amounted to about 8.7 million tons. At the beginning of the planting season, Argentine farmers were in no hurry to plant, hoping that the weather would change. But the rains never came, and in the first few weeks growers planted about 19% of the total area. As a result, some farmers planted less corn than they had originally intended.
Experts say that the 2022-2023 marketing year will be the driest on record in the past 60 years. At the beginning of the season, analysts predicted a harvest of 55 million tons, but in February 2023 they revised their expectations down to 42.5 million tons. The volume of exports in the season will be about 27.5 million tons.
Forecasts for soybean production in Argentina also deteriorated. Initially, experts estimated the oilseed harvest at 48 million metric tons, but production could be as low as 38 million metric tons due to prolonged heat and lack of rainfall.
Rising temperatures exacerbated the situation, as did the lack of rainfall, which was particularly negative at a key stage in the crop’s development. Argentina’s agricultural regions were hardest hit by the drought, with rainfall decreasing since May 2022. Many farmers were forced to abandon soybean production this season to avoid operating at a loss.
Argentina is the leading exporter of processed oilseeds, but shipments are expected to decline in the 2022-2023 marketing year.
FAS estimates the country’s soybean production at 36 million tons. For comparison, in the 2021-2022 seasons, this figure was 42 million tons. As for oilseed processing, it will be 36.5 million tons, while in the previous period, the volume was around 38.3 million tons.
Soybean futures rose on the U.S. exchange amid revised forecasts, while corn and wheat futures fell. Corn is trading at $6.7 per bushel. In addition, U.S. farmers have been cutting back on grain exports in hopes that the price will rise. U.S. corn stocks are at 348,751 tons.