Argentina’s Soy Crop Could Face ‘Significant Losses’ After Storms

By Maximilian Heath

BUENOS AIRES, May 19 (Reuters) – Argentina’s 2024/25 soybean crop could suffer “significant losses” in northwestern Buenos Aires province due to the impact of recent heavy storms, the Buenos Aires grains exchange said on Monday, indicating it may be forced to trim its outlook.

The exchange currently estimates a soybean crop at a decent 50 million metric tons, but said in its report that the heavy rains could further delay the already slow harvest of the grain and cause damage to the plants.

In the northwestern Buenos Aires province 730,000 hectares of the soybean crop have yet to be harvested, the exchange said in a report detailing the impact of the storms.

“This region had already suffered the impact of rainfall in March,” the exchange said, adding that because of this threshing was some 15 percentage points behind the year before. “So the new rainfall could generate significant losses.”

Argentina is the world’s top exporter of soybean oil and soybean meal, and the third-largest exporter of corn.

Heavy rains dumped up to 400 millimeters of rain on fields and highways in recent days, and caused flooding in some cities in Buenos Aires province, where locals had to be evacuated from their homes.

Both the Buenos Aires and Rosario grains exchanges forecast more rain to hit the affected areas in the days ahead.

“New rains are expected for next weekend, especially on Saturday,” the Rosario exchange said in a report. “The time it takes to drain the excesses can influence the magnitude of the productive damage.”

(Reporting by Maximilian Heath; Editing by Gabriel Araujo and Kylie Madry)