May 28, 2008

 

Argentina's corn and soy shipments stable in April, wheat plunges

   
  

Argentina exported 1,997,844 metric tonnes of corn in April, down slightly from the 2,036,657 tonnes shipped in April 2007, according to the latest data from the animal and food-inspection agency Senasa.

 

About half of the 2007-08 corn crop was harvested by the end of April and the suspension of the farm strike for 30 days in April allowed exporters to ship at a rapid pace.

  
 

Soy shipments
 

Soy shipments in April totaled 1,125,609 tonnes, down from 1,292,699 tonnes during the same month a year earlier.

 

Soymeal exports in April totaled 832,565 tonnes, down from 982,983 tonnes a year earlier.

 

Soy pellet and cake exports totaled 155,461 tonnes, down from 243,157 tonnes in April 2007.

 

Soyoil exports in April totaled 79,007 tonnes, down from 202,031 tonnes a year earlier.

 

A three-week farm strike in March prevented the delivery of soy beans to processing centers.

 

Argentina is the world's No. 3 soybean producer and exporter behind the US and Brazil and is the leading exporter of soyoil and meal.

 
 

Wheat Exports
 

On the other hand, wheat exports for April totaled just 8,083 tonnes, down sharply from the 1 million tonnes shipped during the same month last year, according to Senasa.

 

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

 

However, earlier this month the government authorized the shipment of 100,000 more tonnes of wheat to Brazil.

 

Exporters have already declared about 7 million tonnes of 2007-08 wheat for export, with about 1.5 million to 2 million more tonnes still available for export, according to analysts.