June 19, 2006

 

Argentina's April soy crush up 31 percent on-year

 

 

Argentina's soybean crush totalled 2,953,948 tonnes in April, up 31.4 percent from 2,247,994 a year earlier, the latest Agriculture Secretariat data show.

 

Argentina produced 557,757 tonnes of soyoil in April, up almost 30 percent from the 429,975 tonnes crushed a year ago.

 

Soy pellet output in April totalled 2,291,752 tonnes, up about 30 percent more than the 1,761,795 tonnes mashed a year earlier.

 

Analysts expect crush to keep rising over the next couple of years as soybean production rises and crushers boost processing capacity to accompany the bigger harvests.

 

The 2004/05 harvest totalled a record 39 million tonnes, up from 33 million tonnes a year ago, according to the US Department of Agriculture. The USDA has pegged the 2005/06 crop at 40.5 million tonnes.

 

Aceitera General Deheza, Bunge, Cargill, Louis Dreyfus and other companies are spending upwards of US$800 million to build ports and boost daily crush capacity to around 160,000 tonnes by 2007. Daily capacity now totals about 132,000 tonnes, according to the Rosario Cereals Exchange.

 

By the end of 2006, Argentina could be crushing more than 40 million tonnes of oilseed annually, according to an estimate by the Exchange's department of economic studies.

 

The following tables show Argentina's main oilseed crush data as measured in   tonnes:

 

Product        2006         2005

 

Soybeans

January     2,371,186    1,986,404

February    1,927,968    1,799,936

March        2,267,059    1,924,887

April          2,953,948    2,247,994

May                        2,749,303

June                       2,669,452

July                        2,860,824

August                    2,591,338

September              2,774,658

October                   2,420,568

November               2,075,525

December               2,585,756

 

Soyoil

 

January        449,892      379,267

February      370,841      342,118

March          433,050      372,559

April            557,757      429,975

May                           492,244

June                          493,587

July                           538,851

August                       487,836

September                 520,780

October                     457,204

November                  391,772

December                  488,764

 

Soy Pellets

 

January     1,832,884    1,567,222

February    1,516,422    1,421,760

March        1,768,485    1,484,797

April          2,291,752    1,761,795

May                          2,158,916

June                         2,103,861

July                          2,324,677

August                      2,012,131

September                2,165,854

October                     1,896,355

November                  1,582,664

December                  2,032,774