While the herb producers of San Pedro maintain their decision not to harvest until they reach 505 pesos per kilo of green leaves, in the Andresito area there was an agreement between industrialists and farmers, which They decided to accept the 370 pesos in cash which they received as a counter-offer from the dryers and mills.
With a growing demand from the domestic market – last year there were record sales -, the dryers in the municipality of Andresito found themselves having to go out and negotiate with the growers to be able to replenish the stocks in their warehouses, where the yerba mate must remain parked for several months until the right maturation is reached
In a meeting that took place in Andresito, the herbalists and representatives of the dryers managed to resolve the conflict that was preventing the start of the summer harvest. From the industrial sector they explained that they could not increase the value of the raw material more than 100%.because the market did not adapt to those prices and would have left them out of the market. But they could start paying 370 pesos and increase that value as the weeks go by.
Eventually the herbalists accepted that amount but the payments had to be in cash: many industrialists delivered checks at 60 and 90 days; and gradually the price will be updated by an average of 20% per month, respecting the inflation index.
One of the leading Andresito producers, Vittorio Chamulaacknowledged that the agreed value is not the expected one but “it is the maximum that dryers and factories can pay today”, but also praised the willingness of this sector to pay a little more than what was established in October last year for an award from the Nation’s Ministry of Agriculture.
The “official” price is currently 240 pesos per kilo of green leaves put in the dryer, but almost the entire industrial sector already pays a higher amount to secure part of the raw material.
Chamula also admitted that Andresito’s producers decided to give in to their claims because they are going through a difficult economic situation due to the surge in prices after the devaluation. “We’re all hanging,” Lapidario said.
Another factor that led farmers to accept the proposal is thisSignificant rainfall announced for the region in the coming weeks and this would result in a lower yield per hectare due to plant leaf drop.
Andresito, together with San Pedro and Guaraní, in the far north-east of the province, is the area with the highest yerba production. Last year, almost 200 million kilos were harvested in these three departments alone, out of a total production of 774 million kilos of green leaves.
In the San Pedro area, producers remain firm in their position not to start harvesting if the dryers and factories do not pay 505 pesos for the raw material. Industrialists already pay 300 pesos per kilo, but the green leaves that enter the dried plants are well below the average for this time of year.
This Thursday the board of directors of the National Yerba Mate Institute will begin meetings to set the price of green leaves and yerba mate for the major harvest period, which runs from April to October. The herbalists received a nod from the Secretary of Industry and Productive Development of the Nation, Juan Alberto Pazo, who was in Misiones, and explained to the representatives of the primary producers that the presidential decree that took away from the INYM the power to set the reference prices of material raw materials.
Source: Clarin
