- Title: Argentina soy farmers wait on rising prices to sell rain-drenched crop
- Date: 20th May 2024
- Summary: PERGAMINO, ARGENTINA (MAY 15, 2024) (REUTERS) SOYBEAN CROP SOYBEAN PODS SOYBEAN CROP VARIOUS OF SOYBEANS BEING HARVESTED WITH HEAVY MACHINERY (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF SOYBEAN CROP BEING HARVESTED SOY BEING HARVESTED BY HEAVY MACHINERY VARIOUS OF FARMERS MANOEUVRING SOYBEAN HARVESTING MACHINES VARIOUS OF HARVESTED SOYBEANS FALLING INTO TRUCK (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FARMER, ADRIAN FARRONI, SAYING: "The crop suffered from temperature stress in January and February and this caused a disorder in the plant. When we reached the normal harvest dates, the plant still had green leaves and green stems, so the harvester had a hard time, the grains were uneven and so on. Normally we start harvesting in April, but it started to rain. It was drizzling and drizzling, with moderate intensity. So every week we only harvested for two days and for five days we had to stop because of the bad weather." (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF HARVESTED SOYBEANS BEING LOADED ON TRUCKS FOR ITS TRANSPORTATION VARIOUS OF HARVESTED SOYBEANS BEING LOADED ON TRUCKS FOR ITS TRANSPORTATION ROSARIO, SANTA FE PROVINCE, ARGENTINA (MAY 16, 2024) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) RESEARCHER AT THE AGRIBUSINESS CENTER OF THE AUSTRAL UNIVERSITY, DANTE ROMANO, SAYING: “It's been a really slow pace of sales, one of the slowest we've had in history. If we take the last 10 years (as a reference), it is a very slow pace, even slower than the pace we had last year, which was characterised by the drought. And today deals had been struck for 12% of the soy crops which at the moment are 51 million tons, in an average year we should be at a rate of 21%.” PERGAMINO, ARGENTINA (MAY 15, 2024) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SOYBEANS BEING HARVESTED (MUTE) VARIOUS DRONE SHOTS OF SOYBEANS BEING HARVESTED (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF SOYBEAN CROP VARIOUS OF SOYBEANS BEING HARVESTED (MUTE) VARIOUS DRONE SHOTS OF SOYBEANS BEING HARVESTED ROSARIO, SANTA FE PROVINCE, ARGENTINA (MAY 16, 2024) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) RESEARCHER AT THE AGRIBUSINESS CENTER OF THE AUSTRAL UNIVERSITY, DANTE ROMANO, SAYING: “The international market had a strong fall and grain prices ended up at 270 dollars per ton in the harvest position in Argentina, the producer was making a loss at those prices, which left sales totally paralyzed.” PERGAMINO, ARGENTINA (MAY 15, 2024) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FARRONI WALKING IN SOYBEAN CROP VARIOUS OF FARRONI OPENING SOYBEAN PODS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FARMER, ADRIAN FARRONI, SAYING: "It is a question of prices, if they are going down, you try to look at the selling price. Those who can sell other products do so. I sometimes trade wheat or legumes, and today I'm selling more of those than soybeans. I try to diversify my sales a bit out of financial necessity, but it's still not tempting to sell soy. If you see soybean futures prices a bit higher, whoever can hold out and delay sales is waiting." (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF HEAVY MACHINERY HARVESTING SOY VARIOUS OF SOY BEING HARVESTED (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF HEAVY MACHINERY HARVESTING SOY
- Embargoed: 3rd June 2024 11:31
- Keywords: Argentina crop economy harvest sales soy
- Location: PERGAMINO & ROSARIO, SANTA FE PROVINCE, ARGENTINA
- City: PERGAMINO & ROSARIO, SANTA FE PROVINCE, ARGENTINA
- Country: Argentina
- Topics: South America / Central America,Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA001360017052024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:In the fields of Pergamino in Argentina's grain heartland, farmer Adrian Farroni is revving up his soybean harvest late, delayed by rains that along with low prices have led to the country's slowest soy sales in a decade.
The South American country's slow pace selling the oilseed could strain the region's supply even as rival Brazil's crop is dented by major floods. Argentina is one of the biggest global exporters of soyoil and meal that are processed from soybeans.
Argentine farmers had by early May sold 31% of an expected soy harvest of 49.7 million metric tons, their slowest pace since at least the 2014/15 campaign, government data show.
Government data show that until last Wednesday farmers had harvested 61% of planted soybean area, behind even the drought-hit harvest pace last season.
A mix of poor weather and low prices has stalled sales, said Dante Romano, a researcher at the Agribusiness Center of the Austral University in grains hub Rosario. Farmers often agree to sales before the crop is fully harvested.
"It's been a really slow pace of sales, one of the slowest we've had in history," said Romano, who estimated that deals had been struck for only 12% of the soy crop, about half of the average pace for this time of year.
Farmers earlier this year were receiving around $270 per ton, Romano said, encouraging them to hold onto their soybean stocks and wait for the market to rebound.
Soy prices are now starting to recover as worries about crop losses due to flooding in Brazil and dryness in north Argentina have offset data indicating lower U.S. demand.
On the Argentina Rosario futures market, July soy futures are trading around $315 per ton, down from $350 during planting late last year, but higher than the recent lows, which analysts said was spurring a modest increase in trading.
Farmer Farroni, however, was betting on further soybean price hikes ahead, choosing to sell his wheat and legumes for now to get by financially, while mostly holding onto his soy.
"It's still not tempting to sell soy," he said. "Whoever can hold out and delay sales is waiting."
(Production: Miguel Lo Bianco, Horacio Soria, Gloria Lopez) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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