May 6, 2008
 

Argentina's March wheat and soy shipments down sharply, corn up

 

 

Argentina exported just 63,254 tonnes of wheat in March, down sharply from the 1.02 million tonnes shipped during March 2007, according to the latest data from the animal and food-inspection agency Senasa.

 

Wheat shipments were also down sharply from February, when Argentina exported 2,.1 million tonnes.

 

On April 18, the government indefinitely suspended new wheat export commitments which have been blocked since late last year.

 

Exporters have already declared about 7 million tonnes of 2007-08 wheat for export, with about 2 million more tonnes eventually expected to be cleared for export, according to analysts.

 

Argentina also exported 1,85 million tonnes of corn in March, up from the 1.26 million tonnes shipped in March 2007, according to the Senasa.

 

Corn exports in March were up sharply from the 589,142 shipped in February. Widespread harvest of the 2007-08 crop kicked off in March.

 

Argentina's soy shipments in March plunged to just 73,843 tonnes, down from 308,115 tonnes a year earlier, according to Senasa.

 

A three-week farm strike in March paralyzed grain shipments and forced exporters to break contracts.

 

Soy shipments in March were also down sharply from February, when 224,210 tonnes were exported.

 

Soymeal exports in March totaled 559,181 tonnes, down from 705,686 a year earlier. Soy pellet exports totaled 93,148 tonnes, compared with 94,518 tonnes in March 2007.

 

Soyoil exports in March totaled 210,403 tonnes, down from 337,409 tonnes a year earlier.

 

Meanwhile, Argentina's soy stocks were half of that the same time last year.

 

The country's oilseed industry held soy stocks totaling 506,049 tonnes as of April 1, down 56 percent from the 1.16 million tonnes held at the same time a year earlier, according to the Agriculture Secretariat's latest data.

 

Soyoil stocks totaled 70,446 tonnes as of April 1, down from 262,271 tonnes held at the same date a year earlier.

 

Stocks of soy pellets totaled 328,530 tonnes, down from 736,069 tonnes a year earlier.

 

Argentina is the world's third largest soy producer and exporter behind the US and Brazil and is the leading exporter of soyoil and meal.