Argentina confirms agri dollar scheme

Argentina has confirmed the continuation of its preferential exchange rate policy for agricultural products including soyabean products and sunflowerseeds, AgriCensus reported on 10 April.

A government decree on 10 April confirmed the preferential exchange rate –known as the “agri or soya dollar” – at 300 pesos/US$ for soyabeans, soyabean meal, and soyabean oil.

The decree includes over 50 products in the regional products list that are also able to be traded within the scheme. Although

Bunge to buy port refinery from Fuji Oil

Global agribusiness giant Bunge –through its Bunge Loders Croklaan joint venture with Malaysia's IOI Corporation – has agreed to acquire a port-based refinery from Fuji Oil New Orleans in Louisiana, USA.

Located at International-Matex Tank Terminals (IMTT)’s Avondale Terminal, the newly constructured refinery complex had multi-oil refining capabilities and would enable Bunge to expand its customer base, the company said on 10 April.

Following completion of the agreement, which was subject to customary closing conditions, Bunge said it expected to serve customers with the acquired capacity starting in the second quarter of this year.

“This acquisition delivers on our long-term strategy to expand our value-added oils business by accelerating reach across North America, “ Aaron Buettner, Bunge’s president, food solutions, said.

"The facility will connect with our existing footprint and enable Bunge to better serve our customers."

Bunge has an 80-year partnership storing and shipping vegetable oils in the US Gulf with bulk liquid products handling and storage company IMTT and said it had plans to significantly expand the facility’s current capacity.

cereals were included in the list, wheat and corn were not, market participants were quoted as saying. However, barley, sorghum and sunflowerseeds were included.

The decree follows last year’s introduction of two soya dollar schemes in a bid to encourage farmers to sell their crops and increase revenues for the state amid a shortage of US dollars, AgriCensus wrote.

The scheme would run until 31 May for soyabeans and by-products, and until 31 August for regional products.

Soyabean exports from the new scheme would generate US$5bn in revenue, the country’s agriculture secretary, Juan José Bahillo, was quoted as saying. Revenue from regional products was expected to reach US$4bn.

Only producers who had exported products in the past 18 months would be able to use the differential exchange rate, AgriCensus wrote.

Argentina is the world's top exporter of soyabean meal and oil but the worst drought in more than 60 years has taken a heavy toll on its farmers (see p8).

INDIA: A huge increase in exports of rapeseed and soyabean meal helped India record a 76.78% growth in total oilseed meal exports in the first 11 months of the 2022/23 marketing season, the Hindu Business Line reported on 17 March.

India exported a total of 3.7M tonnes of oilseed meals in the April-February period of the current marketing year compared to 2.1M tonnes in the same period the previous year, according to data from the Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA) of India.

SEA executive director BV Mehta said falling soyabean prices had led to increased crushing and improved price parity, which encouraged soyabean meal exports.

India exported 787,000 tonnes of soya meal compared to 348,000 tonnes in the same period the previous year, a 125.82% rise, the report said.

Southeast Asian countries were the major consumers of Indian soyabean meal, Mehta said, with some European countries and the USA opting for Indian soyabean meal due to its non-genetically modified (GM) nature. The depreciation of the rupee was also a factor in increased overall exports, he said.

India exported 2M tonnes of rapeseed meal compared to 772,00 tonnes the previous year, recording a growth of 165.58%, Mehta added.