Argentina has reported its first cases of Covid-19 at port terminals that ship soy meal and oil to the world in a fresh blow to the global commodities trade already disrupted by the pandemic.
Due to the Paraná river drought, which affected Argentina’s soy oil-exporting capacity, Cattalini Terminais Marítimos, which handles almost 70% of Brazil’s soy oil exports through its facilities in the port of Paranaguá, predicts a 25% increase in shipments this year.
A study published by Science magazine on July 16 indicated that a fifth of Brazilian soy imports received by the European Union may come from land that has been illegally deforested.
Banks owed money by cash-strapped Argentine soy crusher Vicentin are accusing the company of diverting hundreds of millions of dollars and have asked a U.S. court to subpoena records as part of a lawsuit, including wire transfers and bank statements.
Argentina’s main farm groups will hold a four-day sales strike this week, officials with local growers groups said on Thursday, to protest a tax hike that soy crushing companies warn will cripple investment in the key sector.
Argentina's soybean harvest for the 2019/20 season is forecast at 53.1 million tons, the Buenos Aires grains exchange said last week, an improvement from a prediction it made towards the end of last year.
Argentina is pushing to increase agricultural trade with commodities-hungry China, as farmers on the country’s Pampas grains belt prepare for what is expected to be a bumper soybean harvest over the weeks ahead.
In Uruguay, non-genetically modified soy (GMO) soy is being developed in order to compete in a market saturated by the volume of crops in the region. Nevertheless, the country’s government hopes Uruguayan soy will stand out for its quality rather than for the volume of harvests motivating soy producers to use “biological controls” to combat pests.
Soybean growers in Argentina are playing a waiting game, wagering on better prices ahead as the U.S. and China inch toward a trade deal and as nation’s currency keeps depreciating. Farmers on the Pampas arable belt have signed delayed-price contracts for almost three quarters of the 12.2 million metric tons they’ve sold to crushers and exporters so far, according to government data. That compares with 60% at the same stage last year.
Brazil is poised to export more corn than soybeans for the first time in a year this January, although sales of the oilseed remain high for the period, according to government and shipping data.