As Ámbito anticipated, The Chamber of the Oil Industry of the Argentine Republic (CIARA) and the Cereal Exporters Center (CEC), which represent 48% of Argentine exports, reported that in November companies in the sector liquidated foreign currency for US$1,999 million. This amount reflects an increase of 99% compared to November 2023, although it represents a decrease of 21% compared to last October. In the accumulated of the first 11 months of the year, an increase of 25% was recorded compared to the same period of the previous year.
November’s foreign exchange inflow is attributed to the good pace of grain sales by producers and a robust soybean meal and oil export program. However, both grain exports and the oil industry operate with high levels of idle capacity and face persistent negative margins.
The settlement of foreign exchange, essential to finance the purchase of grains from producers at the best possible price, is mainly linked to the acquisition of grains intended for export, either in their natural state or processed after industrial transformation. It is relevant to highlight that the income of foreign currency generally precedes the export: about 30 days for grains and up to 90 days in the case of oils and protein flours. These deadlines vary depending on the type of grain and the time of the campaign, although there are no delays in the settlement of foreign currency.
Furthermore, statistical comparisons in this sector are often imprecise due to exogenous factors that affect the grain business cycle. These factors include international price fluctuations, limited supply, differences in quality and volume of products. harvests, weather, holidays, union conflicts, regulatory changes and trade barriers in foreign markets.
The oilseed-cereal complex
In 2023, the oilseed-cereal complex, which includes biodiesel and its derivatives, represented the 50.1% of Argentina’s total exportsaccording to INDEC data. Soybean meal, the main exported product, contributed 12% of the total, followed by corn (11%) and soybean oil (6.9%). Despite its importance, this sector faces a high idle capacity, close to 70%, in its processing facilities.
As far as he could know Scope, the data for November are in line with those for the month of October, and could even be even better. Last month, thanks to the sales of the granary complex, some US$2,553 million arrived, which marked a growth of 243% versus the same month in 2023 and a jump of 2.9% compared to September.
In dialogue with Ámbito, Gustavo Idigorashead of CIARA-CEC, assured that “October was a very positive month in terms of producers’ grain sales volumes, particularly soybeans, and therefore soybean grinding that month was one of the highest in history (for the reference period), that led to us being able to have a foreign exchange income of more than 2.5 billion dollars, but it also coincided with the fact that all ship loading logistics worked perfectly, which is absolutely atypical because there is always some problem, whether it be the maritime agency, the ship, the loading, the unloading, the truck, etc. but the truth is that everything worked perfectly and that is why we achieved that result, November is very good, like that. I think we are also going to have another month with good indicators.
Source: Ambito
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