
The Argentine president Alberto Fernández made a surprise visit to Uruguay on Thursday to meet his peer Luis Lacalle Pou, with whom they shared a barbecue and according to both leaders addressed bilateral and regional affairs with special emphasis on trade prospects such as the Mercosur/EU trade agreement.

Data from SECEX (foreign trade secretariat) compiled by ABIARROZ (Brazilian rice industry association) shows that Brazilian rice exports (husk base) totalled 153,500 tons in October, a volume 84% higher than in the same month of 2019 (83,570 tons).

Brazil has issued a protocol instruction legally authorizing imports of genetically modified (GM) soy and corn from the United States at a time when Brazil is dealing with low stocks and record prices for these products.

A U.S. grain export terminal near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is loading about 38,000 tons of U.S. soybeans on a bulk cargo vessel for shipment to Brazil, according to Southport Agencies shipping lineup.

Experts say the wildfires in a region that spans Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay – especially the region between the Paraguay, Parana, and Uruguay rivers – have become critical in 2020.

“Dear brothers from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, the rest of the region and the world, this summer we will not be able to host you as we do every summer. I want you to know that it is a very painful decision, because as Uruguayans and hosts we love to receive you and there is nothing we would love most than to share the summer season with you”, is the video message from Uruguay's Tourist minister German Cardoso to the potential visitors.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts that the Argentine economy will fall by 11.8% this year, and rebound by 4.9% in 2021, the credit agency announced. This was stated in the Economic Outlook Report (WEO) called A long and difficult road uphill, where as a result of the pandemic it estimated a fall in world GDP of 4.4% and a recovery of 5.2% by 2021.

Argentina has become the first country to approve the growth and consumption of genetically modified wheat, the country's agriculture ministry announced. The ministry's scientific commission said in a statement released in Buenos Aires that it had approved a drought-resistant variety of wheat in the world's fourth-largest exporter of the crop.

European Union lawmakers have backed a plan to cut greenhouse gases by 60% from 1990 levels by 2030, hoping member states will not try to water the target down during upcoming negotiations.

Brazil's biggest lobby group for soy farmers Aprosoja has broken ties with the Brazil Agribusiness Association (Abag) over its support for an initiative calling on the Brazilian government to rein in soaring deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.