February 14, 2008

No new Argentina wheat export sales despite registry opening

Despite the opening of wheat exports at the end of January, no new export commitments have been declared as exporters concentrate on fulfilling contracts made prior to the latest opening of the registry, according to analysts.

Before the registry closure, exporters had declared more than 7 million tonnes of 2007-08 wheat for export, according to the Agriculture Secretariat.

In addition, exporters are now required to ship wheat within 90 days of declaring a sale commitment. Despite the tight shipping deadline, exporters raced to lock in export commitments before the government closed wheat exports in November.

"I think they are busy covering the previous declarations," rather than making new export sales, said Panagricola analyst Ricardo Baccarin.

New wheat export sales are expected to start near the end of this month, when exporters have shipped all the earlier contracts.

However, new exports will be limited to 2 million tonnes, or 400,000 tonnes per month over the next five months, according to the Agriculture Secretariat. Each company will be limited to declaring about 12,000 tonnes of wheat export commitments a day.

The 2007-08 wheat harvest is complete, with 15.4 million tonnes produced, according to the Secretariat. This roughly 800,000 tonnes more than last year.

According to USDA estimates, Argentina would be able to export 10 million tonnes from the new crop.