March 7, 2005

 

Argentina's soy crushing capacity unchanged from last year

 

 

Argentine's soybean crush totalled 1.98 million metric tonnes in January, virtually unchanged from 1.97 million a year earlier, the latest Agriculture Secretariat data show.

 

Analysts expect crush to rise as 2004-05 production jumps to as high as 39 million tonnes, up from 32 million a year ago, according to the Secretariat.

 

Meanwhile, the oilseed industry is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to boost daily crush capacity to 160,000 tonnes by 2007. Daily capacity now stands at about 100,000 tonnes, according to the Rosario Cereals Exchange.

 

By the end of 2006, Argentina could be crushing more than 40 million tonnes of oilseed annually, according to forecasts from the exchange's department of economic studies.

 

Argentina produced 365,247 tonnes of soyoil in January, down 2.4 per cent from the 374,317 tonnes crushed a year ago.

 

Soy pellet output in January totalled 1,508,817 tonnes, or 2.6 per cent less than the 1,549,115 tonnes mashed a year earlier.

 

Argentina also crushed 210,968 tonnes of sunseed in January, up 9.2 per cent from 193,184 tonnes the previous year.

 

Sunoil production totalled 86,601 tonnes in January, up 7.2 per cent from 80,757 tonnes during the same period a year ago.

 

Sunseed pellet output in January was 85,718 tonnes, up 4 per cent from the 82,256 tonnes produced a year earlier.

 

The following tables show Argentina's main oilseed crush data

 

Product        2005         2004

 

Soybeans

January     1,980,072    1,971,086

 

Soyoil 

January     365,247       374,317

 

Soy Pellets

January    1,508,817    1,549,115

 

Sunseed

January     210,968       193,184

 

Sunoil

January       86,601       80,757

 

Sunseed Pellets

January       85,718       82,256