April 8, 2008

Argentina February soy crush surge 16 percent on-year

Argentina crushed 2.17 million tonnes of soy in February, up 16 percent from the 1.87 tonnes turned into soyoil and soymeal during the same month in 2007, according to the country's Agriculture Secretariat.

In February, processors squeezed 422,102 tonnes of soyoil against 358,154 tonnes produced in February last year.

Soymeal output in February totaled 1.69 million tonnes, up from 1.45 million tonnes a year earlier.

The increased crush follows record soy output in Argentina last season, when favorable weather conditions and expanded area boosted production.

Argentina grew 47.6 million tonnes of soybeans in 2006-07, up from 40.5 million tonnes a year earlier, according to the Agriculture Secretariat.

The country is the world's leading soymeal and soyoil exporter, but trails the US and Brazil in soy exports.

Meanwhile, the country crushed 252,145 tonnes of sunseeds in February, down from 290,873 tonnes a year earlier.

Dry weather cut sunseed yields last season, with farmers growing 3.5 million tonnes in 2006-07 compared to 3.8 million tonnes a year earlier.

About 104,255 tonnes of sunseed oil were produced in February, compared to 115,561 tonnes a year earlier.