November 11, 2008
Argentine soy exports go up, meal and oil down
Argentine soy exports rose by 34 percent in the first eight months of the year, but shipments of soyoil and soymeal fell, government figures showed.
According to the Agriculture Secretariat, the country shipped 9.47 million tonnes of soy from January to August compared with 7.07 million tonnes during the same period a year ago.
Argentina is the world's top exporter of soyoil and soymeal as well as the No. 3 supplier of soy.
The 2007/08 soy crop came in at 46.2 million tonnes, according to government estimates, down from the previous season's record 47.5 million.
The main buyer of uncrushed Argentine soy during the first eight months of the year was China, which bought 7.2 million tonnes. In the same period in 2007, it bought 5 million tonnes.
USDA sees the South American country exporting 13.78 million tonnes of 2007/08 soy.
But despite Argentina's stronger soy sales, exports of soyoil fell by 17 percent to 3.46 million tonnes from 4.18 million tonnes during the first eight months of 2007.
The top importer of Argentine soyoil was also China, buying 1.04 million tonnes between January and August. A year earlier, it bought 1.31 million tonnes during the same period.
Meanwhile, sales of soymeal slipped nearly 4 percent to 16.82 million tonnes from 17.44 million tonnes a year earlier.
The largest buyer of soymeal was the Netherlands, which imported 2.27 million tonnes during the eight-month period. Last year, the biggest buyer was Spain with 2.7 million tonnes.
Argentina also exported 5.6 million tonnes of wheat from January to August, down 21 percent from the 7.05 million tonnes shipped during the same eight-month period a year earlier, according to the Agriculture Secretariat report.
The USDA estimates Argentina's 2007/08 wheat exports at 10.5 million tonnes, falling to 5.8 million tonnes in the 2008/09 crop year due to sharply lower production.
With regard to corn, the government report said January-August exports were 12.6 million tonnes, up almost 12 percent from 11.3 million tonnes a year earlier.
The USDA estimates Argentine 2007/08 corn exports of 15 million tonnes.