January 9, 2009
Argentina soy, corn up on drought worries
Argentine corn and soy prices rose over the past week as continued dry weather stoked fears of major drought damage to the crops.
Farmers were anxiously watching the skies for signs of a forecast storm, which would bring relief to the parched crops.
"If we see these rains in the next week, it'll be a good crop, although less than last season. If it doesn't rain we're looking at a catastrophe," said agricultural weather specialist Eduardo Sierra, who prepares the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange's weekly crop report.
The concerns over drought in South America pushed up international and local soy prices, but local corn prices got a huge boost on expectations of greatly reduced production.
"Corn exporters are scared by the prospect that the corn crop from the southern cone of South America will be significantly smaller than had been forecast," farm daily Infocampo said Thursday.
Spot corn traded at ARS380 (US$110) a tonne at the Rosario Grain Exchange Thursday, up from ARS300 Dec. 30.
April 2009 corn sold at US$115 per tonne, up from US$110 December 30.
Soy prices also posted solid gains.
Spot soy was traded at ARS840 per ton, up from ARS800 Dec. 30.
May 2009 soy was priced at US$225 per ton, up from US$215 Dec. 30.
Wheat prices posted the only losses on the week.
Spot wheat was traded at ARS380 per tonne in Rosario Thursday, down from ARS410 December 30.
US$1 = ARS3.455 (January 9)
