Effect of deregulation on yerba mate: exports soaring and prices plummeting

The monthly statistical report from the National Yerba Mate Institute (INYM) arrived with a striking figure: 7.2 million kilos were exported in September, marking a new historical record. This is the second time this year a record has been broken, with the previous mark set in July, when exports had reached 6.5 million kilos. From January to September, almost 42 million kilos were exported, a 26% increase over the same period last year. The Minister of Deregulation of the Nation, Federico Sturzenegger, celebrated this through his X account, and his advisor, Lucas Llach, directly attributed it to the deregulation of the yerba mate sector: "It can't be. They had said that the deregulation of the yerba mate sector would be terrible for the sector," the economist posted on the same social network. From the sector, it is acknowledged that deregulation has favored exports, but it has done so at a cost to producers: the fall in prices of the green leaf. With prices of the green leaf ...