Argentina’s agricultural exports achieved historic record revenues of more than US$2.4 billion in October

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Chamber of Petroleum Industries of the Argentine Republic (CIARA) and the Center of Grain Exporters (CEC), representing 48% of Argentina’s exports, announced that companies in the sector settled an amount of US$2.4 billion last month of October, a historical record for this century in the tenth month of the year.

Cumulative foreign exchange earnings from agricultural exports reached US$28.1 billion in the first ten months of the year.

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October’s amount is a record for that month in the statistics since the beginning of this century and the entire historical series. However, this monthly amount reflects a decrease of 1% compared to the month of September and an increase of 40.8% compared to the same month of October last year.

In the first ten months of the year (US$28 billion), foreign exchange inflows also represent a 66.6% increase over the same period last year and an absolute record for the same period since the beginning of this century.

The main factor was the continued increase in international prices, which offset the lower volume in tons. This performance was achieved despite the significant impact of the low water level of the Paraná River.

The liquidation of foreign exchange is mainly related to buying grain, which is later exported either in its unaltered state or as processed products after industrial processing.

Most foreign exchange earnings in this sector are generated well in advance of export, about 30 days for grain exports and up to 90 days for oil and protein meal exports. This anticipation also depends on the season and the grain in question, so there are no delays in the liquidation of foreign exchange.

In this sector, statistical comparisons between different periods are generally inaccurate or imprecise, as foreign exchange settlement is strongly influenced by the trade cycle of the grain, which depends on various and changing exogenous factors, such as international price fluctuations, supply declines, different quantities and protein values of crops, weather conditions, holidays, labor disputes by trade unions, regulatory changes, foreign tariff, and non-tariff barriers, phytosanitary or quality requirements of other countries, etc.

The oilseeds-cereals complex, including biodiesel and its derivatives, accounted for 48% of Argentina’s total exports last year, according to INDEC data.

The country’s main export product is soybean meal (14.2% of the total), an industrial byproduct produced in this agro-industrial complex, currently operating at nearly 50% capacity.

The second most important export product last year was corn (11%), and the third most important was soybean oil (6.9%), according to INDEC.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Argentina is expected to continue to rank first in soybean oil and soybean meal exports in 2020/21.

According to a report by Argentina’s Ministry, the soy complex alone, which accounted for 27% of Argentina’s total exports last year, represents 16% (344,865 jobs) of the jobs created by all agro-industrial chains in 2017 of Labor.