The president of the Argentine Rural Society, Daniel Pelegrina, warned on Thursday that the government’s closure of maize exports is going to lead to higher prices in the domestic market. “The shortage that occurred in the past with such measures made prices higher. Unfortunately, we have already stumbled upon this stone,” the ruralist leader complained.
The Ministry of Agriculture suspended the registration of Affidavits for Foreign Sales for maize, the start date of which is earlier than the first of March 2021.
“Argentina produces 50 million tonnes of maize, during Kirchnerism 24 million were produced. And there were controls like the ones that were put back on now,” Pelegrina said, in radio statements. According to the entrepreneur, maize “is a crop that is made in many regions that are far from the ports. And that generates a lot of local development, a lot of work. We’re talking about feedlots, refrigerators, pig hatcheries, chickens, eggs, and not to mention the ethanol complex.”
“Maize is a crop with many possibilities and that really brings a huge benefit to our soils,” he added. In his view, “when all restrictions and withholdings were removed, a lot of maize began to occur in Argentina, which was in fact left over. Around 38 million tons can be exported smoothly, and that’s a lot of millions of dollars for Argentina.”
Finally, Pelegrina said that “meat can be produced to grass and grain, always grass is cheaper. Now, if I get a subsidized corn I’m going to use more corn, then consumption increases. And so are the prices.”
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