September 24, 2009
Argentina soy crush up; exporters turning small crop into meal
With Argentine soy in tight supply this year due to drought damage last season, exporters are cutting back on raw soy shipments and focussing on turning the beans into meal and oil.
During the first eight months of the year, 20,456,591 tonnes of soy were crushed, down slightly from 20,784,503 a year ago, according to the latest figures from the oilseed and grain exporter chamber known as CIARA-CEC.
Meanwhile, soy exports during the first seven months of the year totalled 3,422,356 tonnes, down from 7,157,998 tonnes a year earlier, according to the agricultural health and sanitation service, Senasa.
Soymeal exports during the first seven months of the year totalled 8,356,420 tonnes, up from 6,825,840 tonnes a year earlier. Soyoil exports during the first seven months of the year totalled 1,960,565 tonnes, up from 1,680,139 tonnes a year earlier.
According to the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange, soy output from the 2008-09 season plunged to 32 million tonnes from 46 million tonnes a year earlier due to a severe drought.
Argentina crushed 2,191,416 metric tonnes of soy in August, down from 3,033,116 tonnes a year earlier, according to CIARA-CEC. The crush was unusually high in July, August and September last year as the industry rushed to make up for several months of low processing levels following a series of farm strikes.
Argentina leads the world in soymeal and soyoil exports, and ranks third in soy exports.
Argentina also crushed 258,227 tonnes of sunflower seeds in August, down from 370,998 tonnes a year earlier, CIARA-CEC said.
The sunseed crush during the first eight months of the year totalled 2,513,263 tonnes, down from 3,124,307 tonnes a year earlier.
Argentina is the world's largest exporter of sunflower-seed oil.
The chamber's figures are the most reliable available since the government stopped publishing the data last year.
In the midst of a lingering conflict between the government and farm sector over export taxes and other policies, the government has stopped releasing reports on crop forecasts, grain and oilseed stocks, export commitments, wheat milling and oilseed crushing.
