Although the country accounts for around 3% of world agricultural exports, it is the market leader in several important products. It is the biggest exporter of soya oil and soya flour. It is also the biggest exporter of sunflower flour, pears, lemons and honey. It is the world's second-biggest exporter of maize, peanuts and sorghum, and the third-biggest of powdered milk and beans. It comes fifth for wheat and olive oil, sixth for beef and tenth for wine.
Despite this range, the key export crop is soya. The agriculture ministry is forecasting that soya exports this year will be US$9.15bn. The ministry is confident that the current high prices for soya will endure.
It is particularly bullish on the prospects for vegetable exports, forecasting that they will jump by 24% this year. The outlook for fruit exports is less promising: the ministry is forecasting that they will rise by just 1.5%.
The minister of agriculture, Miguel Campos, argues that the strong performance from agriculture will pull the whole economy forward. There is already some evidence to suggest that farmers are beginning to spend some of their windfall, produced by high prices.
Agricultural machinery
Sales of agricultural machinery were up by 75% in the first three quarters of 2003, compared with the same period of 2002. Sales have been rising since the beginning of 2002, following the ending of the convertibility scheme. Sales surged in the first three quarters of 2003. In the third quarter (July to September) sales were US$156m: this was 11 times more than in the first quarter of 2002.
In the first nine months of 2003 the agricultural equipment dealers sold 12,149 units for US$365m. In the whole of 2002, agricultural equipment sales came to US$208m.
The agriculture minister claims that the figures show that the industry is beginning to make capital investments. He also noted that the price of equipment has remained pretty stable since the beginning of 2002, so the rising figures reflect larger numbers of machines being sold.
Combine harvesters are the most popular pieces of kit: they account for 39% of total sales (in value terms). Tractors come in at 23%. The rest of the sales are made up of ploughs, drills and accessories such as new blade mountings for harvesters and spraying equipment.
The dollar-earning farmers are importing increasing amounts of foreign kit. In 2002, 63% of their purchases were made domestically. In the first three quarters of 2003, this proportion dropped to 44%. Even so, the industry is running at close to capacity. The Cámara Argentina de Fabricantes de Maquinaria Agrícola reported that in the third quarter of 2003 capacity utilisation was running at 90%.
Despite this, the industry is hoping to increase its exports. It is starting to exhibit at international trade shows and has hopes of breaking into the Mexican market. The agricultural equipment industry, taking into account everything from manufacturing to servicing and after sales operations, employs 45,000 people.
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