Lang
The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange said on Thursday that persistent heavy rainfall across Argentina's key farming regions is delaying the soybean harvest, with progress running slower than the average recorded over the past five years.
The heavy rains have hampered harvesting by turning fields into mud, while crop sales have also slowed as farmers hold back amid uncertainty over the government's economic policies.
Farmers are pressing the government to cut taxes on soybean exports, a vital source of the hard currency the country badly needs amid an economic crisis and a weakening peso.
Reports indicated that soybean sales have slowed due to uncertainty surrounding exchange rate volatility in the country and expectations of possible tax exemptions.
Argentina is the world's largest exporter of soybean oil and meal, and is expected to harvest around 48.6 million metric tonnes of soybeans this season.
"So far, only 2.6% of the national soybean area has been harvested, down 8 percentage points from the same period last year and 4 points below the average of the past five seasons," the exchange said in its weekly crop report.
Source: Reuters