May 9, 2007

Argentina relaxes on corn export ban

Argentina's Agriculture Secretary Miguel Campos has signed a resolution to partly allow the government's corn export registry after it was ordered closed for six months, the government said in a statement on Monday (May 7). 

Argentina¡ªthe world's second largest corn exporter after the United States¡ªbanned overseas shipments in November 2006 to ensure domestic grain supplies in the country.

The mandate will take effect once the resolution is published in the government's Official Bulletin later this week, an Agriculture Secretariat spokeswoman said.

The development also confirmed the government's declaration that it was approving up to 3 million tonnes of 2006/07 corn shipments, thereby easing export restrictions.

The government has also limited wheat and beef exports to help tame prices on food staples in Latin America's third-largest economy, where inflation was nearly 10 percent last year.

Exporters have to apply to the registry for permission to make grain sales abroad as ordered by Argentine laws.

Corn is an important crop to Argentina's flourishing poultry and hog industries.

In its latest weekly report, Argentine government has harvested 44 percent of the area seeded with the 2006/07 corn crop.

The Agriculture Secretariat and the US Department of Agriculture estimate Argentina's corn production will reach a record of 22 million tonnes this season, and the USDA foresees Argentine corn exports of 14.5 million tonnes.