© Archyde.com/AGUSTIN MARCARIAN
File photo: Soy beans are dumped from a truck at a storage facility in Buenos Aires, Argentina
BUENOS AIRES, Feb 25 (Archyde.com) – The soybean harvest will fall to its lowest level in the last 14 years in the agricultural core of Argentina in the current 2021/22 campaign, to 12.4 million tons, due to the impact of a prolonged drought, the Rosario Stock Exchange (BCR) said in a report on Friday.
Argentina is the world’s leading exporter of soybean oil and meal. But a drought has affected different agricultural parts of the country since December, forcing the BCR to reduce its estimate of grain production for the country to 40.5 million tons, from the initial 45 million.
Of the 4.45 million hectares planted with soybeans in the agricultural nucleus “there are 2 million hectares in fair conditions and 670,000 in bad ones, of which 185,000 are already considered lost. 30% of the production that was expected to planting,” said the BCR.
The 12.4 million tons of soybeans predicted by the Stock Exchange are well below the 17.7 million estimated in October.
In turn, the Stock Exchange explained that although moderate to heavy rains are expected in the Argentine agricultural heartland between Saturday and Monday, “unfortunately, with 55% of the region’s soybeans in fair to poor conditions, it is very likely that negative adjustments will continue”
The BCR also sharply adjusted its forecast for corn production due to lack of rain to 48 million tons from the initial 56 million. Argentina is the world’s second largest exporter of corn.
(Reporting by Maximilian Heath; Editado por Eliana Raszewski)