June 1, 2007

Argentina's April soy crushing posts slight increase 

Soy crushers in Argentina has processed 2.98 million tonnes of soybeans in April, up only by 0.6 percent from the same month a year earlier, the Agriculture Secretariat said on Thursday.

The world's top exporter of soyoil and soymeal produced 579,063 tonnes of soyoil and 2.28 million tonnes of soymeal pellets in April, according to the government's monthly soy processing report.

Soy crush rose to 9.58 million tonnes in the first four months of 2007 compared with 9.54 million tonnes on-year.

High prices for soyoil and soymeal in the world market, coupled with low production costs, have led to a sharp increase in Argentina's crushing capacity in recent years.

In 2006, the country's soy crush rose 14 percent from the previous year.

Argentina is the third-biggest exporter of unprocessed soybeans as soy output has roughly doubled in the last decade. A record harvest is expected again this year as government forecasts 2006/07 soy production of 45.2 million tonnes, up from 2005/06's 40.5 million tonnes.