Argentina’s grain export revenue plunges 75% year-on-year in September, chamber says

Argentina’s exports of grain, oilseeds and their derivatives tumbled 75% year-on-year in September to just over $2 billion, a report by the Argentine Chamber of the Oil Industry (CIARA) and the Grain Exporters Center (CEC) said on Monday, Oct 10.

September exports grew 15% when compared with the previous month, however, the chamber added. When comparing the first nine months of 2023 with the same period last year, the grain and oilseed sector shed 50% of its sales abroad.

The CIARA-CEC chamber cited a preferential exchange rate mechanism in the month as one of the reason for the export boost compared to August, though sales remain down sharply due to a devastating drought that hammered the most recent crops of soy, corn and wheat.

In the midst of a sharp loss of central bank reserves, the government has repeatedly pushed for a special exchange rate for exporters to speed up their grains sales, the main source of the South American country’s foreign currency income.

Argentina, headed for a crunch general election this month that could tip the country to the right, is the world’s top exporter of soybean oil and soybean meal, the third largest exporter of corn and a key global supplier of wheat.

(Reporting by Walter Bianchi, Editing by Eliana Raszewski)

Source: Nasdaq

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