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Argentina's soy harvest stalls after rains, meteorologist says

A meteorologist reported on Tuesday that Argentina's soy harvest, already delayed, has been further slowed down by heavy rains and humidity in Argentina's major agricultural regions.

Rains in early April and March had caused Argentina's harvest to be behind schedule. The country is the world's biggest exporter of soy oil and meal.

In an interview, German Heinzenknecht said, "The harvest is over." Heinzenknecht is a consultant at Applied Climatology Consulting.

Experts and the data of the national weather service report that Argentina's grain belt has received between 30 millimeters and 50 millimeters (1.1 inches to 1.18 inches) of rain in the last few days. This is the end of a string of sunny days that had allowed farmers to use their combine harvesters for the first time of the season.

High moisture levels can cause fungus to grow, causing the delay.

Heinzenknecht stated that the harvest may restart on Saturday.

Latest data from the Ministry of Agriculture showed that the harvest pace is nine percentage points slower than last year's, with 25 percent of the harvested area.

SALES REBOUND

Rains and the uncertainty in the industry following the lifting capital controls that affected the exchange rate caused the sales of the crop to fall in April at their lowest pace in over 11 years.

The government reported on Tuesday that they had recovered by the end the month and reached their highest weekly sales pace of the year with 1,21 million metric tonnes of the crop.

Farmers needing funds to plant wheat, sales are usually high at this time of the year.

This is good news for President Javier Milei's libertarian government, which has been pushing farmers to export their crops.

Argentina charges high prices for soy and its products sold abroad. The country relies on the foreign exchange they generate to support the economy.

Even so, the sales are still behind schedule. Just over 26 percent of estimated 49 million tonnes have been sold. Maximilian Heath, Brendan O'Boyle, and Nia William edited the report.

(source: Reuters)