Argentina: Severe crisis in the soybean milling sector

(NAP) Soybean milling registered another month of decline, which led to an increase in idle capacity of industries that jumped from 25% to 45%, according to reports from the Chamber of the Oil Industry of the Argentine Republic and the Center of Cereal Exporters. Based on data from August, the Ciara CEC Agroindustry Monitor warned that, due to lower processing, flour and oil exports also fell sharply. In numbers, soybean milling was reduced in August by 1.151 million tons (26.26%), which resulted in a 20% drop in the installed capacity of the national oilseed industrial complex. According to Ciara-CEC, 3.230 million tons of beans were milled in August compared to 4.381 million in July. Imports This drop was due to the lower supply of soybeans available and to the fact that 403,000 fewer tons were imported from Paraguay, practically the only Argentine supplier. External purchases decreased 41% compared to July, going from 959,000 to 556,000 tons. In this context, the percentage of ...