BUENOS AIRES: Argentina’s grain exporters brought in a total $2.451 billion in August, a 40% increase compared to the previous year, the CIARA-CEC chamber of oilseed producers and grains exporters said on Monday.

CIARA-CEC said revenues from the sector’s companies fell 6% compared to July. In the January-August period, there was a 9.4% increase. “The export of grains and soy oil industry products continues to be conditioned to a moderate pace of sales and fixings,” CIARA-CEC said in a statement.

It added that foreign currency income in August was the result of the new foreign-exchange regime for exports in force since December 2023, when libertarian President Javier Milei took office pledging to improve the outlook for farmers.

CIARA-CEC also mentioned the impact of the weather on the pace of the corn and soybean harvests as well as favourable terms of trade. Argentina is one of the world’s top two exporters of processed soy oil and meal, the No. 3 for corn, and a major producer of wheat. Soybean meal is the country’s top export, accounting for 12% of the total.