Argentina will harvest a record 37 million tonnes of corn this season, the government said on Wednesday, blowing past all previous estimates after a surge in late planting spurred by the lowering of export barriers by President Mauricio Macri. The forecast, which included an unspecified amount of corn used as livestock feed, dwarfed the US Department of Agriculture's 27 million-tonne estimate for Argentina's 2015/16 corn harvest.
The USDA forecast includes 6 million tonnes of domestic feed corn in its harvest estimate. Macri, elected in November, has eliminated export taxes on corn and wheat while tossing out the quota system that the previous government used to ensure ample domestic food supplies.
Argentine growers planted more than expected corn late last year when it started looking likely that free-markets proponent Macri would beat early front-runner Daniel Scioli, from the same party as previous President Cristina Fernandez. "We have confirmed an increase in corn sowing area thanks to late-season planting motivated by good trade conditions," the agriculture ministry said in its monthly crop report. It also forecast a 60.9 million-tonne 2015/16 soy harvest. Fernandez feuded with the farm sector over tax policies during most of her eight years in office, while bilateral relations soured between Argentina and the United States.
Macri's policy reforms were praised by US President Barack Obama during a state visit to Buenos Aires on Wednesday, the first for a US leader in almost two decades. Argentine corn harvesting, which has already begun in early-planted areas, is expected to easily exceed the previous record of 33.8 million tonnes brought in during the 2014/15 season. Farmers are selling their corn stockpiles at a record pace after Macri ditched export curbs when he took office in December, unleashing fresh supply onto a saturated global market and potentially hurting prices.
US corn prices have risen 2.7 percent this year to $3.68 per bushel. Southern Brazil is looking to import some corn from Argentina after strong demand for corn exports left Brazil with regional shortages. One Parana-based trader said around 250,000 tonnes of Argentine corn had been purchased for delivery to southern ports between April and May 15, when Brazil's second of two annual corn harvests begins. Poultry producers in Brazil have complained about the rising price of corn for animal feed due to the shortages.