A major producer and world exporter of cereals, Argentina is in the grip of a historic drought which has severely affected its harvests this year. This is particularly the case for corn, with production forecasts that are constantly being revised downwards.
From our correspondent in Buenos Aires,
In its latest report, the Rosario Commodity Exchange expects a production of 35 million tonnes of maize this year, while it forecast 50 at the start of the campaign. The lack of precipitation and the aridity of the soils delayed the sowings, when they did not quite simply prevent them. On the zona nucleo, the productive heart of the country, it fell about half as much rain as usual this year, while the water tables were already in the red.
Indeed, the drought has lasted for 3 years in this region, due to the exceptional persistence of La Niña, a climatic phenomenon leading to rainfall deficits on the Argentine plains. In the fields, the ears of corn are rickety, withered, yellowed by the lack of water, and production should fall by 30% compared to last year. Even though Argentina was the world’s third largest maize exporter in 2022, the impact of this drop in production on international prices was offset, among other things, by the very good harvest from neighboring Brazil.
But for Argentina, the losses are there and are all the more important as they are not limited to corn. In addition to the drought, the country recorded the hottest summer in its history. Record temperatures which also heavily affected crops. With 11.5 million tonnes, wheat production was half that of the previous season. As for soybeans, the Rosario Commodity Exchange expects the worst harvest for more than 20 years with 27 million tons, while Argentina is the world’s largest exporter of oil and flour of soy.
International sales of grains and derivatives, which accounted for half of Argentine exports last year, are expected to fall by 39%, for losses estimated at nearly 21 billion dollars by the Buenos Aires Commodity Exchange.