Soybean Production in Argentina's Core Producing Regions May Fall To 14-year Low

Production in Argentina's core soybean producing areas in 2021/22 will fall to the lowest level in 14 years due to severe drought conditions, according to a report released by the Rosario Grains Exchange.

A drought in many of Argentina’s agricultural producing regions since December prompted the Rosario Grain Exchange to lower Argentina’s soybean output to 40.5 million tonnes, down from an initial forecast of 45 million tonnes.

The exchange said in its latest report that due to dry weather, the soybean core production area may only be 12.4 million tons, which would be the lowest level in 14 years.

The soybean planting area in Argentina's soybean core production area is about 4.45 million hectares, of which 2 million hectares are in normal condition, 670,000 hectares are in poor condition, and 185,000 hectares have been harvested.

 In early October last year, the exchange expected output in the core soybean producing areas to reach 17.7 million tons, which means that the current expected production loss is about 30%. Although forecasts indicate moderate to heavy rains are expected in the core soybean producing areas Saturday through Monday, soybean production forecasts are likely to continue to be lowered due to poor conditions for more than half of the soybean crop.

The exchange also lowered Argentina's 2021/22 corn production to 48 million tonnes, down from an initial forecast of 56 million tonnes due to lack of rain.

In Argentina's main agricultural producing areas, the proportion of corn crops harvested earlier than in previous years has been poor so far.