News of agriculture

EU-MERCOSUR TALKS

EU watchdog opens probe into Mercosur trade deal

Yesterdat 12:16 EU Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly confirms investigation will be opened into historic trade deal with Mercosur, after environmental and rights groups complained that the deal does not respect the EU’s legal obligations.

BLOOMBERG

Creditors allege Vicentin soy giant siphoned off US$400 million

05-07-2020 08:10 Banks are asking a New York judge to subpoena more documents from bankrupt soy-export giant Vicentin, saying there may have been “major international financial impropriety” that saw US$400 million drained from the firm.

WHAT NEXT?

Brazil, Argentina issue warnings as locust swarm crosses region

26-06-2020 00:16 Both the Argentine and Brazilian governments issue warnings as locust swam crosses border region.

expropriation of Vicentin

Vicentin tensions rise amid protests, Fernández backlash

22-06-2020 08:42 Thousands of Argentines in Santa Fe Province, where Vicentin is headquartered, and other cities, expressed anger at the expropriation plan on Saturday, as President Alberto Fernández insisted on nationalising the company.

ANALYSIS

Vicentin’s forerunners: Probing Argentina’s recent history of nationalisations

13-06-2020 08:43 Expropriation of Vicentin agri-business firm would be the eight major nationalisation since Néstor Kirchner took office.

EXPROPRIATION OF VICENTIN?

Government leaves door ajar for Vicentin U-turn

13-06-2020 08:00 After fierce pushback from agro industry and opposition, President Alberto Fernández meets with Vicentin executives and says Argentina will consider other options. Nationalisation remains on the cards for now, however.

BLOOMBERG

Government mulls export sweetener to bridge gap with creditors

09-06-2020 18:13 Officials may offer warrants linked to agricultural exports to close the gap with top creditors in debt restructuring talks and the idea is gathering support among bondholders, Bloomberg reports.

BLOOMBERG

Traders size up the making of a state soybean giant in Argentina

09-06-2020 17:48 Inside the crop-trading houses of Rosario, fears grow that Vicentin will be afforded unfair advantages over rivals or distort the market by overpaying farmers.

Expropriation of Vicentin

Government says it will nationalise bankrupt agro-export giant Vicentin

08-06-2020 23:50 Peronist leader says Argentina will “come to the rescue of Vicentin,’ in a bid to save 2,600 workers from losing their jobs. Critics charge that the move on the agricultural powerhouse, which filed for bankruptcy last year, is ideological.

BLOOMBERG – ANALYSIS

Argentina moves to nationalise one of world’s biggest soy suppliers

08-06-2020 23:25 President Alberto Fernández has dipped into the play book of his vice-president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, with his plan to seize crop trader Vicentin SAIC.

MINISTRY POSITIONS

Agricultural food for thought

23-05-2020 10:03 A protectionist model in an increasingly protectionist world conspires against the success of agricultural exports, even though more vital than ever.

by Michael Soltys

MERCOSUR TRADE BLOC

Opposition slams government's decision to pull out of Mercosur trade talks

26-04-2020 09:34 Citing economic policy priorities and the effects of the Covid-19 crisis, President Alberto Fernandez’s administration has withdrawn from ongoing and future talks involving the Mercosur trade bloc.

Bloomberg

Virus hobbles Argentina's biggest soy exporters – with harvest nearing

24-03-2020 10:59 The world’s biggest exporters of soybean meal and oil are fending off a slew of logistical hurdles as they rush to get ready for the impending harvest in Argentina.

AGRO POLICY

Government officially ramps up taxes on soybean exports

05-03-2020 17:28 Argentina, world’s biggest exporter of the soy products and tariffs, hikes duties from 30% to 33%.

SPEECH TO CONGRESS

Fernández vows to send abortion bill to Congress ‘in next 10 days’

01-03-2020 23:42 Peronist president says he will seek to legalise abortion, reform the Judiciary and make Argentina’s debt burden sustainable, as he opens new sessions in Congress.

Bloomberg

Argentina set to hit farmers with more taxes to fix budget woes

27-02-2020 12:32 President Alberto Fernández plans to raise export levies on soybeans. The taxes will rise to 33% from the current rate of 30%, according to Bloomberg.

TAX REFORM

Producers warn government over plan to raise soy duties by 3%

25-02-2020 18:51 The government of Alberto Fernández would increase in the coming days three percentage points to the retention of soybeans and their derivatives, which is why the agricultural producer organisations anticipated the possibility of force measures.

Bloomberg

Default rocks the Argentine brokers who sell soy to the world

21-02-2020 12:23 Soy giant Vicentin files for bankruptcy, posing a threat to the Argentine soy industry.

Bloomberg

Soybean mogul negotiating to buy Tejar’s Brazil unit

19-02-2020 08:42 Amaggi, Brazilian soybean group owned by entrepreneur-turned-politician Blairo Maggi, in advanced talks to buy the local unit of Argentina’s El Tejar, according to reports.

TRADE WAR

French wine exports to US plunge in wake of Trump tariffs

07-02-2020 12:59 US President Donald Trump imposed punitives tariffs on Europe agriculture as a result the litigation between the aeronautic giants Boeing and Airbus. Since then, French wine imports into the US have been cut almost by half among others European delicacies.

MINISTRY POSITIONS

Local over global for Felipe’s foreign affairs

11-01-2020 10:38 Felipe Solá has no known background in the diplomatic field – which did not stop him from being the frontrunner to head the Foreign Ministry from the moment Frente de Todos loomed as Argentina’s next government.

by Michael Soltys

BLOOMBERG

Banco Nación will fight Vicentín debt restructuring

03-01-2020 14:07 Officials at state-owned bank have told agricultural company it needs to raise cash now. They’re also investigating a loan made to the company for irregularities, according to reports.

Jorge Difonso interview

'With this decision, Mendoza has regressed 12 years,' says co-author of Law 7722

24-12-2019 09:51 Lawyer and Cambia Mendoza provincial deputy Jorge Difonso on why protesters in Mendoza are taking to the streets in rejection of alterations made to legislation which restricted the use of dangerous chemicals in mining operations.

by Isabelle Margulies

Economic Recovery

First protest against new government, sparked by recovery package

19-12-2019 12:32 Pro-Macri demonstrators protest against pension freezes and tax hikes on exports and foreign expenditures.

Bloomberg

New tax hike is nightmare come true for Argentina's farmers

17-12-2019 16:55 As the new government continues to roll out tax hikes, powerful agricultural producers are showing both concern and anger.

BLOOMBERG

Blow for Fernández as crop windfall slips away

09-12-2019 13:42 President-elect needs all the help he can get to pull the country out of recession and make good on bond payments. But he faces a speed bump from the crop industry.

FUTURE OF MERCOSUR?

Changing Mercosur bloc meets in Brazil after US tariffs blow

05-12-2019 07:26 Focus of bloc's 55th summit – the last for President Mauricio Macri – looked set to be the arrival of Alberto Fernández in office. The Mercosur now has more immediate concerns: Donald Trump.

TRANSITION 2019

Influential agricultural leader: Macri 'wasn't what we expected'

03-12-2019 08:30 Carlos Iannizzotto, president of one of Argentina's largest agricultural cooperatives, Coninagro, reflects on how the industry fared under outgoing president Mauricio Macri – and ponders what lies ahead under Alberto Fernández.

BLOOMBERG

Blow for farmers, boon for drillers? Election's winners and losers

28-10-2019 16:47 Agricultural producers fear shit in tax rates on soybeans, wheat and beef and tighter capital controls, but Fernández will likely do his best to spur drilling in Vaca Muerta and boost mining exports.

Election 2019

Pelegrina: ‘2008 was very difficult for farmers – Fernández shouldn’t repeat the past’

25-10-2019 23:57 Ahead of Sunday’s elections, the head of the Sociedad Rural Argentina (SRA) shares his perspective on Mauricio Macri economic policy, and what lies ahead for farmers should the Peronists return to power.

AGRICULTURE

Farmers fear impact of a Peronist victory in election

24-10-2019 09:38 After a record harvest, farmers are fearful of a Peronist victory on Sunday and their subsequent policies, yet also disappointed in President Mauricio Macri and his government.

ELECTION 2019

Embattled farmers eye presidential vote with apprehension

16-10-2019 19:38 Farmers are bracing for the possible return of interventionist policies if the Peronist ticket headed by Alberto Fernández and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner wins the October 27 ballot.

EU-MERCOSUR TRADE DEAL

Austria rejects EU-Mercosur trade deal over Amazon fires

19-09-2019 09:49 Key committee in Austrian Parliament rejects draft free-trade agreement between EU and Mercosur over concerns about fires in the Amazon.

'HISTORIC AGREEMENT'

China turns to Argentine soy meal in fresh blow to US farmers

10-09-2019 22:01 Asian giant is finally allow in soy meal imports from Argentina after two decades of fruitless talks, Agriculture Ministry announces.

Agriculture

Panic sweeps the pampas with farmers’ old nemesis set for return

07-09-2019 01:36 Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s shadow looms large for Argentina’s agricultural producers.

TRADE DEALS

Mercosur reaches EFTA trade deal with European countries

23-08-2019 22:13 The agreement with the European Free Trade Association formed by Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, comes two months after Mercosur sealed a landmark trade deal with the European Union.

BLOOMBERG

Trump hints at more trade aid for farmers, as China trade war drags on

06-08-2019 16:02 With Beijing and Washington at odds, Argentine farmers are capturing larger shares of soybean sales to China, the largest export market for the oilseed.

GOVERNMENT

Macri to sign decree upgrading Agroindustry Secretariat back to ministry

31-07-2019 10:10 Decision, trailed in this morning's newspapers, is expected to take place before Saturday.

FREE-TRADE DEAL

EU slams 'misinformation' about Mercosur trade deal

15-07-2019 16:23 Accord has raised alarm in some European countries that the continent will be flooded with beef and other agricultural imports, subjecting domestic farmers to unfair competition and consumers to unsafe food.

BLOOMBERG

Latin America and free trade score a win with EU-Mercosur deal

09-07-2019 15:22 Who knew that even as China and the United States played chicken with international trade, 31 nations with a tenth of world population and a fourth of its wealth would agree to abide by global rules and swap goods freely across the Atlantic?

by Mac Margolis

BLOOMBERG

Soy harvest delivers record yields for Argentina

05-07-2019 10:22 After last year's devastating drought, soybean yields in Argentina's famous pampas agricultural belt registered an average of 3.36 metric tons per hectare this season, analysts say.

DEAL OR NO DEAL?

EU tells Macri, Bolsonaro: There's still work left to do on Mercosur trade deal

07-06-2019 10:19 EU officials brush off suggestions from presidents of Argentina and Brazil that a sweeping free-trade deal with the European bloc is close to being signed.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

INDEC: Economic activity fell 6.8% in March year-on-year

24-05-2019 15:44 Eleventh consecutive month of decline registered, with economy activity falling 1.3% on February.