Soybean trade in Argentina is almost stopped

According to the CIARA-CEC organization, the soybean trade in Argentina is virtually stopped due to the lack of the oilseed caused by the drought in the country. In addition, farmers are holding back sales, expecting the devaluation of the peso during the term of the newly elected President of Argentina Javier Milea.

“Today, the agricultural trade is paralyzed due to the soybean deficit, the worst in 60 years, and expectations after the victory of Javier Milei that the official exchange rate will soon be adjusted,” said the head of CIARA-CEC Gustavo Idigoras.

The organization also reminded that Argentina, which is struggling with triple-digit inflation and devaluation of the national currency, exercises strict control over capital flows, which led to the establishment of a parallel exchange rate of 1000 pesos per 1 US dollar, while the official rate is slightly more than 350 pesos per dollar. In this regard, Argentine exporters suffer significant losses when returning foreign currency earnings.

In addition, G. Idigoras noted that the shortage of soybeans leads to significant downtime of processing enterprises.

Today, the average idle time of processing plants in Argentina is about 73%, and the country’s ports from which agricultural products are shipped is about 75%. We are experiencing the worst year and the worst quarter in history,” the expert summarized.

In this situation, Mr. Idigoras called on the government of Mr. Milei to abolish trade restrictions on exports, including taxes and access to foreign currency, as soon as possible, and to remove bureaucratic red tape in obtaining licenses.

Tags: soybean, Argentina