The sector’s foreign exchange income is the highest in history: $ 25,696 million in the year

Argentine agro-export companies joined in August $ 3,387,888,431, the highest in 20 years for the month. So, currencies brought in so far in 2022 reach $ 25,696,907,401, a record since records have been kept.

According to the Chamber of the Petroleum Industry of the Argentine Republic (CIARA) and the Cereal Exporters Center (CEC), entities that represent 48% of Argentine exports, In the eighth month of the year, companies in the sector paid 5% more than in July and 11% more than in August 2021.

The total settled from 2 January 2022 it amounts to 25,696,907,401 dollars, an all-time high since there are records and 10% more than in 2021.

“We remind you that the total amount of foreign currency entered monthly remains in the power of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic, from there they deliver pesos, at the official exchange rate, to exporters in order to carry out the operations of buying and selling grain on the national market”, they indicated by CIARA-CEC.

They also warned him grain exports have suffered from the negative effects of the drought concerning the dense harvest, then as well as the effects of a volatile macroeconomy and the foreign exchange market. “This deepened the idle capacity of the soybean crushing industry which continues to work with negative margins still in full electoral campaign and which is leading to apply production line stops”, They warned.

In August, producers sold the lowest volume of soybeans since 2005 (the first year with official data), despite the government implementing the “soybean dollar,” a tool that sought to encourage farmers to anticipate seed sales.

According to official data, analyzed by the broker Grassi SA, 1.3 million tons of soybeans were sold in August (data up to 24), 36% less than in the same month of 2021. If compared with August 2019 , when 3.7 million tons were traded (the month with the highest sales in the August series), sales fell by 62%.

“The monthly income from foreign currency, converted into pesos, is the mechanism that allows us to continue buying cereals from producers at the best possible price. The liquidation of exchange rates is fundamentally linked to the purchase of cereals which will then be exported, in the same state or as processed products, after an industrial transformation ”, explain the agro-exporters.

In addition, they pointed out that most of the sector’s foreign exchange earnings occur well in advance of exports, with an advance which is around 30 days in the case of grain exports and up to 90 days in the case of oils. and protein flours. “This anticipation also depends on the weather of the campaign and the grain in question, then there are no delays in the settlement of exchange rates”, Indicated by CIARA-CEC.

And they made it clear that statistical comparisons between different periods are generally imprecise or imprecise since exchange settlement is heavily influenced by the trade cycle of cereals, which depends on various and changing exogenous factors such as international price swings, supply retraction, different volume. and protein value of crops, climatic conditions, holidays, trade union force measures, regulatory changes, foreign tariff and paratariff barriers, phytosanitary or quality requirements of other countries, among other things.