Foreign media news on December 14: The report released by the Argentine Ministry of Agriculture showed that with the implementation of the second round of preferential exchange rates for soybeans in Argentina, soybean sales by Argentine farmers continued to accelerate last week.

As of December 7, Argentine farmers had sold a total of 33.449 million tons of 2021/22 soybeans, 812,000 tons higher than a week ago, and lower than the cumulative sales of 35.656 million tons in the same period last year. For comparison, 557,000 tons were sold the previous week.

As of December 7, Argentine farmers had also pre-sold 2.405 million tons of 2022/23 soybeans, an increase of 201,000 tons from a week ago and lower than the 3.732 million tons in the same period last year. For comparison, 256,000 tons were sold in the previous week. The pace of pre-sale of new beans has slowed down, which may be related to the dry weather. Farmers postponed advance sales to get a better idea of soybean production prospects.

The Argentine government implemented a special exchange rate of 230 pesos to 1 US dollar for soybean sales from November 28 to December 31, in order to encourage farmers to sell soybeans and expand exports to earn foreign exchange. The current official exchange rate is around 165 pesos.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast Argentina’s 2022/23 soybean production at 49.5 million tons in December, unchanged from its November forecast. The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange forecast soybean production at 48 million tonnes.