Glacier FarmMedia – Soybean production in Argentina for 2023/24, along with beginning stocks and imports were revised downwards by the United States Department of Agriculture attaché in the capital of Buenos Aires.
In the report released by the USDA on Mar. 14, the attaché estimated 17.20 million hectares of soybeans are to be harvested this marketing year. Based on projected yields of 2.88 tonnes per hectare, that’s to reap 49.50 million tonnes of soybeans, a half million below the USDA’s official estimate, which is based on the harvested area at 16.50 million hectares with yields of 3.03 t/ha.
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The attaché said the dry conditions Argentina experienced in January were largely responsible for the reductions, which were further compounded by the February rains. Those ranged from insufficient in some parts of the country, such in the province of Cordoba to excessive in others, such as the Buenos Aires and Santa Fe provinces. Nevertheless, Argentina remained well on course to more than double its soybean output of 20.50 million tonnes from the drought-stricken 2022/23. The USDA’s official estimate of that crop was 25.0 million tonnes.
Argentina’s soybean beginning stocks were pegged at 4.41 million tonnes by the Buenos Aires desk compared to the USDA call of 6.61 million. The attaché projected soybean imports at four million tonnes versus the USDA’s 5.1 million. Together with the productions numbers, brought the total supply to 57.91 million tonnes according to the attaché and 61.71 million in the department’s eyes. Meanwhile, the two agreed on the size of the country’s soybean crush, estimated to be 39.0 million tonnes.
But they differed on soybean exports, with the attaché foreseeing six million tonnes while the USDA was more conservative at 5.10 million. Total domestic consumption also saw different numbers with the attaché at 45.30 million tonnes and the department at 46.25 million. All of that generated a wide disparity in 2023/24 ending stocks, with the Buenos Aires desk set at 6.61 million tonnes compared to the department’s much larger call of 10.36 million.
Argentina is the world’s third largest grower of soybeans, behind Brazil and the U.S., but it’s the world’s largest exporter of soymeal and soyoil, according to the USDA.
— Glen Hallick reports for MarketsFarm from Winnipeg.
