Argentinian soybean and corn farmers could get full relief from export taxes until Dec. 31, 2022

Argentinian soybean and corn farmers could get full relief from export taxes until Dec. 31, 2022, amid severe drought in the country’s key regions, according to the Rosario Grains Exchange, or BCR.

Political coalition Juntos por el Cambio presented a bill in the parliament Jan. 18 to eliminate export duties for soybean and corn farmers in regions where an agricultural emergency has been declared due to drought, BCR report said Jan. 19.

Argentina has an export duty of 33% on soybeans, 31% on soybean oil and soybean meal, each, and 12% on corn.

Most parts of the country have been reeling under severe drought since November, significantly hurting crop quality ratings.

About 31% planted soy crop was in good-to-excellent condition through Jan. 12, down 17 percentage points on the week and 56 points since late-December, according to the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange, or BAGE.

The rapidly deteriorating crop quality could reduce Argentinian soybean production forecast for crop year 2021-22 (November-October), according to sources.

Argentinian soybean output could fall as low as 43 million mt, from an early season forecast of over 50 million mt, if dry conditions do not ease over the coming weeks, a local agricultural analyst said.

A drought in the Pampas crop belt is expected to curb Argentina’s 2022 gross domestic product by $4.8 billion, representing 1% of the International Monetary Fund’s GDP forecast for the country, BCR said.

Argentina’s 2021-22 soybean and corn exports are expected to be $2.7 billion lower than the previous forecast in September, BCR said.

S&P Global Platts

Tags: corn, soybean, Argentina, export taxes