Exports of goods in May plummeted 31% and marked the eighth month of decline in placements of Uruguay in international markets. He bad time for soybeans and meat —between the historical drought and the low Chinese demand— explain the greater negative incidence, but most of the main exported products ended up in the red.
The soy does not have a good time, overwhelmed by the worst drought in the last century. Thus, the harvest will be at least 77% lower than expected under normal weather conditions; something that, after a year of record exports, marks an even greater difference.
For this reason, the oilseed was once again the main product that dragged down the percentage of foreign placements, with a new collapse of 65% in year-on-year terms in May, according to the latest foreign trade report from Uruguay XXI, after it also fell 67% in April. These figures explain more than half of the total drop in exports experienced in the last month.
In this sense, in May 164 million dollars worth of soybeans were exported, while the same month of 2022 implied income of 474 million dollars for the same product. The main reason is the significant decrease in the production of the oilseed, due to the effects of the drought that is still spreading through the country and that reduced the harvest below 25% of last year’s levels. likewise, also crop prices fell in the international markets, which in parallel influenced the drop in the product.
The bovine meat It was also a large part of the reason behind a new drop in Uruguayan exports: in May they represented income from $196 million when, a year ago, they had been 281 million dollars. This meant a 31% retracement in a new negative month that accumulates to the downward trend that began in July 2022.
Regarding placement by destination, beef exports to China fell 37%, while at the European Union were 31% lower, since USA16% less.
Cellulose, wood and dairy, other disappointments
Although soybeans and beef account for almost all of the collapse in exports of goods in May, they were not the only products that registered setbacks. Surprisingly —and while it is expected that it can compensate for the fall in what, until now, are the main export products—, cellulose also had a dropalthough very slight in comparison: its placements were 4% lower than those of May 2022.
According to data from Uruguay XXI, it was due to a drop in pulp prices over the last month that dragged down the growing export volumes with the start-up of the new pulp mill. UPM in Paso de los Toros.
Also they dairy products fell 12%, totaling 71 million dollars when, a year ago, exports were 81 million dollars. Although the same sales of powdered milk were registered compared to May of last year, cheeses and cottage cheeses and butters registered falls of 5% and 84% year-on-year, respectively.
Also, exports to Brazil tripled (343%) compared to May of last year, but the other destinations experienced falls: a Algeria they fell 84% and China, 95%.
Other products whose exports fell in May were wood and wood products (-46%); rice (-22%); malt (-8%); and meat by-products (-5%). The only positive items among the country’s main export products, according to Uruguay XXI, were beverage concentrates (+29%) and pharmaceutical products (+13%).
Source: Ambito
