Labor strike in Argentine ports concerns wheat mills in Brazil

The prolongation of a workers’ strike in Argentine ports has raised concerns for wheat mills in Brazil, especially if the shutdown is not ended by the end of the year.

Brazil, which imports most of its wheat from Argentina, registered a slowdown in cereal shipments in December, according to data from the Ministry of Economy released on December 21st.

The situation is not that serious for Brazil because at the end of the year many industries reduce the demand for wheat due to companies closing for year-end breaks and there is also still a good supply of domestic wheat since the harvest was just ended.

“At this time of year, there are few wheat buyers. If the strike ends, there is no problem. If it does not end, then there will be some problems for some buyers”, said the President of ABITRIGO (the Brazilian wheat industry association), Rubens Barbosa, who is in contact with the Brazilian embassy in Buenos Aires to monitor the situation.

An industry source, on the other hand, indicated a more “dramatic” situation. Several ships waiting to load. Some mills may run out of wheat,” said the source who works for a company in São Paulo, on condition of anonymity, as he is not authorized to speak to the press.

Brazilian wheat and rye imports fell by 50% until the third week of December, to just over 14,000 tons/day, compared to the average of the same month last year, according to data from the Brazilian government.

In December of last year, Brazil imported 650,000 tons of wheat from all origins, and in this month accumulated landings totaled only about 200,000 tons.

According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, of the 5.87 million tons of wheat imported by Brazil from January to November, Argentina supplied 4.33 million tons, while the United States supplied 733,800 tons, followed by Russia (237,600 tons), Uruguay (235,000 tons) and Paraguay (218,500 tons)

Graphic source: DataLiner (To request a DataLiner demo click here)

Source: Reuters

Sharing is caring!