June 21, 2012

Argentina to permit six-million-tonne wheat for export

Argentina will authorise the export of six million tonnes of wheat as the government eases food export constraints, declared Argentine Vice President Amado Boudou.

The quota "allows more certainty and predictability" for farmers to sell their produce, Boudou said.

Argentina's wheat crop for 2012-2013 may decline as farmers suffer drought in some areas and others elect to plant alternative crops or cheaper seeds, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange said in a June 14 report. Argentina's 2011-2012 wheat crop declined 16.5% to 13.2 million tonnes compared with the year before, according to the Agriculture Ministry.

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her predecessor and former husband Nestor Kirchner have restricted exports of beef, corn and wheat since 2005.