Argentina Corn Crop to Get Significant Rain After Drought
Argentina’s main corn- and soybean- growing regions are forecast to receive significant rainfall during the next week, providing relief from a drought caused by the La Nina weather pattern.
As much as 150 millimeters (5.9 inches) may fall in northern and central producing regions, with “scarce” rain of as much as 10 millimeters in the southern areas, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange said in its weekly climate report today.
Corn in Argentina, the world’s second-biggest exporter of the grain, needs rain after months of dry weather destroyed some of the sowed crop. Temperatures will rise above 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) through Feb. 9, the exchange said. La Nina has also hurt crops in Brazil and Mexico.
“The much longed-for rains arrived in January and provided some relief,” the cereals exchange said in its separate weekly crop report today. “Above all, it helped the crops planted later on or in the second phase” as corn planted before October was most affected by the drought.
Rain earlier this week caused flooding in Argentina’s northern Cordoba province and in parts of Buenos Aires. Corn planting in Argentina begins in August and harvesting starts in February, while soybean sowing runs from September with harvesting beginning in February.
Corn for March delivery fell half a cent to $6.4415 a bushel at 12:38 p.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade, while soybeans for March delivery rose 0.1 percent to $12.165 a bushel.
Corn output is forecast at 22 million metric tons, with soybean production at 46.2 million tons, the exchange said in its crop report today. Both crops are almost fully planted.
The U.S. is the world’s biggest corn exporter. Argentina is the third-largest soybean exporter after the U.S. and Brazil.
To contact the reporter on this story: Laura Price in Buenos Aires at lprice3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net
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