MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Rioting against Chile-South Korea free trade.
Record crops in Argentina.

In spite of massive violent protests by farmers in downtown Seoul, the Chilean government is confident that the free trade agreement between South Korea and Chile will be finally approved by the Southeast Asian country Congress.

Chilean Foreign Affairs Minister Soledad Alvear reported that the South Korean ambassador in Santiago de Chile had repeatedly informed her that "the approval of the free trade agreement was not at risk".

Ms. Alvear also downplayed the violence of the protests in the South Korean capital and said they were usual incidents when countries open their economies to the world.

"When this happened in Chile, there was no democracy and this probably impeded protests, because undoubtedly these changes are a big challenge, demanding and tough", stressed Ms. Alvear.

Chile signed the free trade agreement with South Korea last February and the document was expected to be ratified this month. However since parliamentary elections are scheduled for next April some South Korean legislators are demanding an easing of the transition measures.

South Korean farmers blocked some of the country's main routes and 500 of them managed to reach the Congress esplanade where a battle with riot police broke out.

The agreement Chile-South Korea contemplates the immediate tariff elimination for 87% of products exchanged between both countries including 200 agriculture produce.

Ms. Alvear also anticipated that another free trade agreement but with neighbouring Bolivia, should be drafted and ready for ratification before the end of the year. No details were given but apparently once the document is ratified all current Bolivian exports will have zero tariff access to Chile, while Chilean imports to Bolivia will be gradually scaled down in a five year period.

"This is to help Bolivia compensate the asymmetries of our economies", indicated Ms. Alvear.

Record crops in Argentina

With almost the entire crop harvested Argentina is heading for a record maize and soybean year.

Buenos Aires Cereal Chamber reported that up to last week 14,1 million tons of maize had been harvested in 2,1 million hectares with a record yield of 6,700 kilos per hectare. Similarly 34,5 million tons of soybeans from 12,5 million hectares, with an average yield of 2,750 kilos per hectare.

With 240,000 hectares still waiting to be harvested the 2002/03 maize crop will have reached a record 15,8 million tons, a 7,4% expansion over the previous season.

Another 400,000 tons of soybeans are expected to be collected totalling 34,9 million tons for the 2002/03 crop, which represents a 16,3% increase over the 30 million tons of the previous year.