Argentina's soy meal shipments roar back from strike disruptions

Soybean meal exports from Argentina, the world's largest supplier of the cattle feed, are recovering strongly after labour strikes decimated soybean processing in December.

So far this month until Wednesday, 2.16 million metric tons of flour have been shipped from the main ports, according to data from the Argentine shipping agency Alpemar. That figure exceeds all of January volumes in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Likewise, it marks a rapid recovery from last month's levels, as exporters dismiss fears that further protests by truckers will continue to frustrate operations.

Truck deliveries to grain terminals plummeted last week, but are now back to normal and have received more than 3,000 loads a day since Tuesday, according to the AgroEntregas trucking agency. Soy represents 45 percent of deliveries this week.

Argentina desperately needs exports to help its economy. The January soybean meal boom allows the South American nation to take advantage of both high prices and strong demand from buyers in Southeast Asia, who are expanding their pig herds.