The government agency Uruguay XXI reported that oilseed placements fell 76% in the first part of the year.
Exports of goods fell 31% year-on-year in June and accumulated a fall of 18% in the semesteradding up 5,661 million dollarsas reported today Uruguay XXI. The decrease is produced especially by the collapse of soybean exportswhich fell 76% in the first part of the year, that is, a quarter of what they registered in the same period in 2022. This drop is almost exclusively due to the drought that devastated the soybean crop, taking it to historic lows.
At the same time, beef exports fall 32% in the semesterdue to the lower production – also a consequence of the lack of water, which affected the pastures – but also due to the decrease in prices and placements compared to last year, in which meat had reached historical records.
In the meat sector, a weaker demand on the part of China (main export destination), has pushed back sales. Uruguay has been facing strong competition in recent weeks from Brazil and Argentinawhich attend the Chinese market and sell at lower prices than those that Uruguay had been selling.
Contrary, Cellulose exports advanced 27% in the semester. In June, the new UPM pulp mill in Paso de los Toros accumulated exports of 72,000 tonsleading pulp to become the main export product in said month.
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There is also an increase in dairy exports, 6% in the first half, despite the drop in butter sales due to the contraction of the Russian market. Dairy exports are led by powdered milk, whose main destination is Brazil, which was the destination of more than 70% of total dairy exports in June and took more than half of the sales in the first semester. With its important role as a dairy demander, Brazil was the main destination for Uruguayan exports in June, followed by China, USA and the European Union.
Given the collapse in soybean production, this oilseed was fifth in the ranking of export products in the semester, being surpassed by beverage concentrates, which remained as the fourth product after beef, cellulose and dairy products. Exports of beverage concentrates are made from the Cologne Free Zone and their main market is the Americas, the business belonging to the international company Pepsi.
There is also a good performance in rice exports, which increased 10% and will surely exceed soybean exports this year. It is expected that this item will regain its relevance next year, if the weather normalizes.
Source: Ambito
