July 20, 2004

Argentina's 2003-04 Corn 98.9% Collected By Saturday
 
As of Saturday, Argentine farmers had collected 98.9% of the 2003-04 corn harvest, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange said Monday.
 
The pace of collection is similar to that of a year ago at this time, when 99% of the crop had been collected. So far, farmers have produced 12.924 million metric tons, according to the exchange.
 
Collectible area stands at 2.172 million hectares and almost 2.149 million hectares have been collected thus far.
 
The average yield last week was 6.01 tons per hectare, down from 6.7 tons a year ago at this time, according to the exchange.
 
The exchange expects output to total 13 million tons. As of Saturday, production totaled 12.924 million tons.
 
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has forecast 2003-04 corn production at 12.5 million tons and the Secretariat has projected output at 12.4 million.
 
Last year, Argentina produced 15.04 million tons of corn, according to the Secretariat.
 
The USDA has forecast 2004-05 output at 15.5 million tons.