In the first four days of the corn dollar in Argentina, 2.4 million tonnes were sold in the domestic market, of which 950,000 tonnes were traded on Thursday alone, the Rosario Grains Exchange (BCR) said late Friday, July 28.
Announced Monday, the preferential exchange rate program runs through August 31 and sets an exchange rate of 340 pesos to the dollar for agricultural exports.
The program is part of the agreement between Argentina’s government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF); after weeks of negotiations and rumors, a staff-level agreement was settled on Friday.
With the corn dollar – which also includes sunflower, barley, and sorghum – the Argentine government hopes to generate $2 billion in revenue.
From Monday, July 24 to Thursday, July 27, revenues amounted to $519 million, or 26% of the expectation.
Domestic corn sales and exports
On Tuesday, domestic corn sales totaled 650,000 tonnes; on Wednesday, they had risen to 820,000 tonnes, the update showed.
No volumes were reported for Monday, July 24.
The average weekly traded volume in the previous month ranged from 600,000 to 700,000 tonnes.
According to BCR, the price increase boosted sales, as the price paid to producers increased to $125 per tonne on Tuesday, a 25% increase from the previous day, using the previous unofficial dollar to peso exchange rate as a reference.
BCR data showed that before the inclusion of corn in the preferential exchange program, 47% of the 34.5 million tonnes surplus available had been sold versus 63% at the same point last year and 57% on average in the past five years.
The exchange also noted a sharp increase in the number of trucks arriving at Argentine Up River ports, marking the busiest week so far in 2023, warning that not only were domestic prices rising as a result, but the increase had begun “to pressure the logistics of the Up River port of Gran Rosario.”
BCR also estimated that there remains 9.8 million tonnes still to be sold, with that volume rising to 13.7 million tonnes when factoring in the volumes that have been sold but are yet to be priced.
From Monday to Thursday, corn exported volumes amounted to 360,795 tonnes, with a total of 500,486 tonnes volume when considering sunflower, barley, and sorghum.
Before the beginning of the program, corn exports totaled 14.6 million tonnes, with exports amounting to 14.9 million tonnes on Thursday.
It represents 58% of the 26 million tonnes volume allowed to be traded.
