July 11, 2008

Argentina's corn shipments down 12 percent in May

Argentina saw sharp drops in corn shipments in May compared to the same month last year, with wheat suffering an even sharper reduction.

Corn shipments were down 12.1 percent to 2.27 million tonnes in May, compared to 2.59 million tonnes in May 2007, according to animal- and food-inspection agency, Senasa.

Corn exports during the first five months of the year reached 6.84 million tonnes, up from 6.48 million tonnes during the same period a year ago.

Wheat Exports

Argentina exported just 4,508 tonnes of wheat in May, down sharply from the 770,770 tonnes shipped during May 2007, according to Senasa.

Shipments during the first five months of the year totaled 5.58 million tonnes, down from 5,82 tonnes a year earlier.

New wheat export commitments have been blocked since late last year. However in May, 100,000 tonnes were freed up for shipment to Brazil and last month a further 1 million tonnes were authorized for export.