MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Farm sales to LatAm increase 20 percent

Argentina's farm exports to other South American nations rose 20 percent to 6.4 million tons in the first half of the year, compared with the same period in 2004, the government said yesterday.

The value of sales to Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Paraguay, Ecuador, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago amounted to US$1.27 billion, which marks a 3 percent increase from last year, said the national food and animal health inspection service, SENASA.

The main market for Argentina's farm exports was Brazil, to which Argentina sold 3.5 million tons of goods worth US$647 million. Wheat sales alone brought in US$316 million.

Sales to Chile ? mostly of corn, soybeans, soy pellets and soy meal ? totaled 876,000 tons worth US$212 million, rising 13 percent in volume and 30 percent in value from the first half of 2004.

Exports to Peru surged 124 percent in volume and 72 percent in value to reach 1.1 million tons worth US$143 million. Sales to Venezuela totaled US$107 million, while exports to Colombia reaped US$61 million, SENASA reported.