May 25, 2005

Argentina to boost soybean-crushing capacity by 50 percent

Argentina's soybean processors may boost crushing capacity by 50 percent through 2006. The South American country is the world's third-biggest grower of the oilseed.

Total capacity for turning soybeans into cooking oil and animal feedmeal is expected to rise to 45 million tonnes a year, or 160,000 tonnes a day.

Processors in Argentina are spending more than $600 million to expand crushing and storage capacity, and ports to help ease supply bottlenecks.

Crushing capacity lags Argentina's annual soybean harvest. Transportation charges rose as much as 20 percent over the past year for carrying beans to the port of Rosario, which handles almost 90 percent of Argentina's total soybean production.

Argentina's processors may crush 27.5 million tonnes of soybeans in the year that started April 1, and 29 million tonnes in 2006.

Farmers may harvest 39 million tonnes of soybeans in Argentina this year. Soybean exports may rise to 9 million tons, from an estimated 7.05 million last year.

China accounts for more than 65 percent of Argentina's soybean exports. Thailand buys about 10 percent and Turkey imports about 4 percent.