Historical agreement to enter with soy flour in China

DAfter 20 years of negotiations, the governments of Argentina and China announced during the week an agreement on the opening of the Asian giant's market for local soy flour. It is the main Argentine export product, 80% produced in factories in the region.

The agreement represents an opportunity to enter the largest vegetable protein consumption market for food in the livestock sector. China has more than 500 million head between pigs and cattle.

In the accumulated 2019, Argentina exported 4.3 million tons of soybeans to China (80% of exported seeds are exported) and 163,954 tons of soybean oil (4%). The entry into the Asian country of products made from the milling of oilseeds has historically been limited by its industrialization policy of oilseeds on its own territory.

The oilseed complex in Argentina is the world's largest exporter of soy flour and soybean oil and the third largest producer of soybeans. This year, 26 million tons of soybean meal, 6.5 million soybean oil and 8.5 million tons of soybeans are expected to be exported.

The Rosario Stock Exchange is said to be satisfied with the deal, which will allow exports to this Asian country to take effect from next year.

"China is the largest consumer of soybean meal in the world, as the 67.3 million tonnes consumed annually in the country account for 28% of all soymilk used in the world," they explained. . On the other hand, they estimate that the companies that mold in the country could export 31 million tons of soya flour in 2019/20, which represents 45% of the world trade of this product.

In March, Hu Chunhua, Deputy Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China, visited the Rosario Stock Exchange with a delegation from the Chinese government.

The Asian giant's delegations have begun a series of visits to major processing plants in Argentina. The last one was held on August 16 and was led by members of a consulting firm working for the Chinese government on investments. At Senasa's request, the entity included a visit to the Rosario Stock Exchange Laboratories.

The President of the Chamber of the Petroleum Industry of the Argentine Republic (Ciara), Gustavo Idígoras, stressed that the agreement was "a historical fact". But he said that what was closed was "the sanitary protocol for export". He warned that two stages remained pending: the authorization of the factories, which could be announced next October; and product registration, which will take several more months.

That's why he explained that "no immediate shipment is expected at the moment". The first exports would be effective in 2020.

It should also be remembered that China industrializes most of the beans that it consumes. But the trade war with the United States led it to look for new sources of supply, not just grain. The Bloomberg agency, for example, has identified the agreement reached between Argentina and the Asian country as a "new blow" for the president of American and American producers.

Biodiesel Another encouraging news regarding the international market was the decision of the US International Trade Tribunal to ask the US Department of Commerce to reconsider some of the arguments put forward for imposing an average tariff of 74% on the international market. import of Argentine biodiesel in April of 2018.

"The decision coincides with the position of our country in that the anti-dumping order of the Department of Commerce is not in compliance with US legislation in this area," said Jorge Faurie's portfolio in a statement. .

"Our Foreign Ministry hopes that the above-mentioned department will be able to confirm its recent preliminary decision to eliminate other countervailing duties imposed on Argentina's biodiesel."