July 2, 2012

Argentina approves more exports of 2011-12 corn

As farmers near the end of the harvest, Argentinean government has approved the export of about three million tonnes more of 2011-12 corn, a senior Agriculture Ministry official said on Friday (June 29).

Argentina, the world's second-biggest corn supplier after the US, controls wheat and corn exports through a quota system designed to guarantee affordable local food supplies and help tame high inflation.

"We could make another change in July, but it's in the order of three million tonnes," Oscar Solis, deputy agriculture secretary for added-value and new technologies, told Reuters.

The export quota policy is unpopular with growers, who say it depresses prices in the local market, and the government is reforming the system. For corn, a new system of approving larger tranches for export is expected to come into force next season.

A total of 13.5 million tonnes has been approved for shipment overseas so far this season, including the three million tonnes announced on Friday (June 29) and some stocks held over by farmers from the previous crop year.

By Thursday (June 28), growers had gathered 76.4% of the area dedicated to commercial-use corn, according to Buenos Aires Grains Exchange.

The USDA sees corn production of 21.0 million tonnes and exports of 13 million tonnes while Argentina's Agriculture Ministry expects 20.1 million tonnes.