Argentina’s weekly soybean and wheat crop sales jump, corn lower

Argentine farmer sales of the recently harvested soybean and corn crop jumped by nearly 40% and 30% in the week ending August 24, official data from the Agriculture Secretariat showed Wednesday.

The new wheat crop sales also advanced, surging on the low volumes sold in the prior week.

Soybeans farmer sales

Soybean farmer sales for the recently harvested 2021-22 crop jumped 37% on the week, with 350,000 tonnes of soybeans committed in the week ending August 24.

Despite the sharp increase, soybean sales remained 20% lower year-on-year, with 22.71 million tonnes sold for the season to date.

Farmer sales continue to slow as the country’s Central Bank’s ‘soy dollar’ measure – due to expire at the end of August – has failed to gain ground; only 240 deals were executed under the instrument, for a total value of $2,600 million (with most sales concluded last week).

The 2022-23 crop sales, starting from October, jumped to 57,000 tonnes from a mere 21,000 tonnes sold the prior week, bringing cumulative sales to 1.14 million tonnes, down 31% year-on-year.

Export license applications for the 2022-23 crop remained subdued, while export licenses for the 2021-22 crop reached 1.71 million tonnes, far from the 4.93 million tonnes applied for a year ago.

Corn farmer sales

Farmer sales of the recently harvested corn crop rose 28% on the week, to land at 1.42 million tonnes, while sales of the 2022-23 crop – which farmers have already started to plant – fell nearly 30% on the week to 224,000 tonnes.

Despite the increase, farmer sales for the season remain 2% behind last year’s progress, while sales of the new crop are down 33% from the same period the previous year.

Export applications for the 2021-22 crop amounted to 32.68 million tonnes, down 5%.

Export license applications for the 2022-23 crop amounted to 6.89 million tonnes, up 59% year-on-year.

Wheat farmer sales

Farmer sales of the 2022-23 wheat crop surged to 32,000 tonnes, from a mere 9,000 tonnes the prior week, while sales of the old crop slid 4% on the week to land at 127,000 tonnes.

Cumulative sales for the 2022-23 crop totaled 5.23 million tonnes, down 8% on the year, while sales of the record high 2021-22 crop reached 21.72 million tonnes, a 41% yearly increase.

Export license applications for the 2022-23 crop were unchanged at 8.8 million tonnes, compared with 4.2 million tonnes at the same time last year.

Export applications for the 2021-22 crop were also unchanged at 14.5 million tonnes, up 42% on the year.

For more information on the current wheat market, take a look at our dedicated page for wheat market analysis.