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BUENOS AIRES, Feb 17 (Reuters) – Argentina’s corn exports should fall some 40% year-on-year between March and June, the Rosario Grains exchange (BCR) said on Friday, as fewer hectares were planted early this season due to the impacts of a historic drought.
The BCR forecast just 8.7 millions tonnes of corn exports in those four months, after just 19% of an estimated 7.3 million hectares (18.04 million acres) were sown in the early weeks of the campaign, as many farmers awaited rains which in many regions did not materialize.
Last week, the BCR for the second time cut its corn production estimate to 42.5 million tonnes, due to what it has declared the worst drought in 60 years. At the start of cycle in September, it had forecast a 55 million-tonne harvest.
“This year there will be less corn overall,” the exchange said, “but also a change in the seasonal pattern of grain availability, with only a very small portion available for consumption and export in March to April.”
Early corn yields are higher than those planted late, and are usually shipped abroad during this period. Late corn is usually exported between July and September.
The BCR forecast total corn exports for the current season at 27.5 million tonnes.
Argentina’s government imposes limits on corn exports to guarantee domestic supply. As campaigns progress, the volume of grain allowed to be shipped abroad is adjusted. The current allowance for 2022/23 is 20 million tonnes.
(Reporting by Maximilian Heath; Writing by Sarah Morland Editing by Marguerita Choy)
((sarah.morland@thomsonreuters.com;))
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