March 31, 2004

Argentina's January Corn Exports Down 48%
 
Argentina exported 392,365 tons of corn in January, which is 48.5% less than the 762,298 tons exported during the same month a year ago.
 
Corn exports have declined alongside production, which is down an estimated 2.6 million tons from a year ago.
 
Argentina is expected to harvest 12.4 million tons of 2003-04 corn, compared with 15 million tons a year ago, according to the Secretariat.
 
South Africa bought the biggest portion of Argentine corn in January, accounting for 96,042 tons, compared with 40,721 tons the previous year.
 
Chile came in second with 85,844 tons against 102,531 the previous year.
 
Spain ranked third with 44,136 tons against 25,620 a year earlier.
 
Argentina was the world's No. 3 corn exporter in 2003, behind China and the U.S. Analysts expect Argentina to regain the No. 2 position in 2004 as China exports less corn.