Argentina Farm Exports Hit US$2.75 Billion in August, Up 51 Percent on Corn Surge
ARGENTINA · ECONOMY
Key Facts
—The month: Argentine farm exporters settled US$2.75 billion in August, up 51 percent from the US$1.818 billion of August 2025, though 6 percent below July’s US$2.918 billion.
—The year: The first eight months of 2026 total US$19.047 billion, 12 percent below the same period of 2025 — an improvement on the 16 percent gap recorded through July.
—The driver: Corn. A harvest projected near 70 million tons and a rush of producer selling filled shipping programs at the Gran Rosario and south Buenos Aires terminals.
—The difference: Unlike 2025, this campaign has run without temporary export-tax schemes, giving the sector what exporters call a predictable, normal cycle.
—The source: The data come from CIARA-CEC, the oilseed industry and cereal exporters’ chambers, whose members account for 48 percent of Argentina’s total exports.
Argentina’s farm belt delivered its strongest August in years: US$2.75 billion in export settlements, 51 percent above the same month of 2025. Corn did the heavy lifting, and a campaign free of tax gimmicks did the rest — but the year is still running 12 percent behind.
The corn engine
August’s result rested on one crop. The consolidation of a strong forage-corn harvest unlocked a steady flow of trucks toward the Gran Rosario hub and the terminals of southern Buenos Aires province, while producers showed unusual willingness to fix prices and commit grain to export programs, CIARA-CEC said in its monthly report. That acceleration in physical selling filled vessel line-ups and quickened the flow of dollars into the financial system, with the corn harvest projected at around 70 million tons.
The monthly comparison carries the usual post-harvest seasonality: July had brought in US$2.918 billion, down a marginal 3 percent from June, when soy joined corn as the twin engines of reserve accumulation for the central bank. August’s US$2.75 billion keeps that flow going deeper into the second half than recent years managed.
The annual gap narrows
The year-on-year leap flatters, but the cumulative numbers still show a deficit. Through July, agro-export settlements totaled US$16.297 billion, 16 percent below the first seven months of 2025. August’s surge cut that gap to 12 percent, with US$19.047 billion banked in the first eight months. The chambers attribute the shortfall to swings in international commodity prices and available volumes from the production cycle, and describe the current dynamic as aligned with historical averages rather than with either the drought years or the bonanza ones.
Local prices tell the same story of normalization: soybeans ended August around 550,000 pesos per ton (about US$365) on the Rosario board, while wheat’s external rally stalled. For the Milei administration, every week of steady farm dollars underpins the central bank’s purchases — a net US$768 million in August, as The Rio Times reported in the month’s market balance — and the IMF’s demand for faster reserve accumulation.
A campaign without gimmicks
Exporters insist the biggest change is not agronomic but regulatory. “This year has the profile of a normal agricultural campaign thanks to the absence of temporary schemes,” CIARA-CEC said — a reference to 2025, when the government cut export taxes for a semester and then briefly suspended them altogether for three days in late September, engineering a liquidation rush to contain the dollar. Those episodes distorted every monthly comparison since.
The 2026 cycle, by contrast, has run on a stable exchange regime and unchanged export taxes, letting exporters plan logistics — raw-material supply, soy crushing, loading at Up-River terminals — without the stop-and-go that added operating costs in previous years. That predictability, the chambers say, is what allowed August’s corn selling to convert so quickly into settled dollars.
What September and beyond look like
The final four months will depend on the residual selling of the coarse harvest and on early fieldwork for the 2026/27 campaign. Weather is the wildcard: forecasters see up to 90 percent more rain than normal in Argentina’s core farm region at the peak of the developing El Niño, a prospect that aids soil moisture for planting but threatens logistics if it arrives early. For now, the sector enters spring on a plateau of commercial stability, with port line-ups full and the year’s dollar gap slowly closing.
Why it matters for Latin America
Argentina supplies the region’s second-largest farm export flow after Brazil, and its settlement data are the earliest reliable read on South America’s corn marketing pace. A 51 percent August jump signals that southern-cone supply is reaching world markets faster than last year — welcome news for importers from North Africa to Southeast Asia, and a reminder of how quickly Argentine volumes return when policy stops taxing them away.
Frequently asked questions
How much did Argentina’s farm sector export in August?
Exporters settled US$2.75 billion in August 2026, up 51 percent from US$1.818 billion a year earlier, according to the CIARA-CEC chambers, whose members handle 48 percent of national exports.
Why the big year-on-year jump?
A corn harvest projected near 70 million tons and strong producer selling filled port shipping programs, while 2025’s figures were distorted by temporary export-tax schemes that shifted settlements between months.
Is 2026 ahead of last year overall?
Not yet. The first eight months total US$19.047 billion, 12 percent below the same period of 2025 — though the gap was 16 percent before August’s surge.
What role does corn play?
The decisive one. Corn shipments drove August’s total, with steady truck flows to the Gran Rosario and southern Buenos Aires terminals and producers fixing prices faster than in recent seasons.
What comes next?
Residual coarse-harvest sales and early 2026/27 planting. Forecasters expect up to 90 percent above-normal rain in the core farm belt at the El Niño peak, which could help soil moisture but complicate logistics.
Sources: CIARA-CEC monthly report; Todo Noticias; Agroempresario; Bolsa de Comercio de Rosario; Infobae.
Connected Coverage
Follow developments across the region on our Latin America hub.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
In depth
Read More from The Rio Times