August 9, 2004

Argentina Says Sells 60,000 Metric Tons Of Wheat To Sri Lanka

Argentina last week sold 60,000 tons of wheat to Sri Lanka, Argentina's Agriculture Secretariat said.
 
The sale brings the number of Argentina's international buyers to 28 countries, compared with only seven a year earlier, according to Secretariat data.
 
Argentina's increasingly diverse clientele has helped the country to keep sales from declining rapidly as demand from Brazil, which normally buys over 80% of local wheat exports, tapers off. Brazilian farmers produced more wheat this year, reducing the need to import from Argentina.
 
Argentina, one of the world's top five wheat exporters, as of Aug. 6 sold an estimated 6.0 million metric tons of 2003-04 wheat, Secretariat data show. By this time last year, Argentina had sold 5.53 million tons of 2002-03 wheat.
 
Unsold wheat stocks currently stand at about three million tons, according to the Buenos Aires-based brokerage Granos del Parana. About half of this will be sold by year's end, the brokerage says, leaving 1.5 million tons of carryover.
 
Argentina produced 13.5 million tons of 2003-04 wheat, according to the Secretariat.