The Chamber of the Oil Industry of the Argentine Republic (CIARA) and the Cereal Exporters Center (CEC) They confirmed that Argentina lost about US$20 billion in 2023 due to the worst drought in a century.
According to the chambers, the settlement of foreign currency for exports of cereals and oilseeds and their derivatives amounted to US$19,742,137,675 in 2023, which meant a drop of 51% (approximately US$20,700 million) compared to the previous year.
The entities of the field, which represent 48% of Argentine exports, also announced that during the month of December the companies in the sector settled the sum of US$1,245 millionwhich represents a decrease of 66% compared to the same month of December 2022 and an improvement of 24% compared to the month of November 2023.
Compared the 12 months of 2023 with the year 2022, the cereal-oilseed sector lost foreign sales values of 20.7 billion dollars (51%).
The income of foreign currency for the month of December is the result of the drought, which has generated losses in available grain stock, as well as a new export dollar established by the Decree 28/23. Although December’s foreign exchange inflow was higher than November, it was negatively impacted by the low remaining grains from the coarse harvest, wheat production affected by the weather, and changes in the foreign trade regime established by the BCRA that did not allow the necessary fluidity particularly in the collections of processed soy products that contain imported soybeans under the temporary admission regime, which was severely affected by the new regulations of the monetary authority. The industry continued to have high levels of idle capacity in grain port terminals and in the milling industry.
The settlement of foreign exchange is fundamentally related to the purchase of grains that will later be exported, either in their same state or as processed products, after industrial transformation.
Most of the foreign exchange income in this sector is produced quite prior to export, anticipation that is around 30 days in the case of grain exports, and reaches up to 90 in oils and protein flours. This anticipation also depends on the time of the campaign and the grain in question, so there are no delays in the settlement of foreign currency.
The oilseed-cereal complex, including biodiesel and its derivatives, contributed 48% of Argentina’s total exports in 2022, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (Indec).
The country’s main export product is soybean meal (14.2% of the total), which is an industrialized by-product generated by this agro-industrial complex, which currently has a high idle capacity of close to 50%.
Source: Ambito
