AgroPages-Argentina: Imports of agchem, fertilizers fall 16.8%-Agricultural news

Imports of agrochemicals and fertilizers dropped 8.5% in value and 16.8% in volume during the first half of 2014 mostly due to the profitability drop of the agricultural sector and import restrictions. Meanwhile, exports of agrochemicals fell 6% in value (from 271.3 to 254.9 million dollars), and went down 18.2% in export volumes.

This was confirmed by the Sectoral Economic Research consulting company through its latest report.

Imports of agrochemicals and fertilizers fell 8.5% in value compared to the first half of 2013. Imports accumulated 901.8 million dollars. The drop came despite the recovery of the harvest, a fact that reveals the fall in investment.

The destinations of agrochemicals and fertilizers exports are mostly concentrated in the regional market: Brazil gets 44.8% of the Argentine exports, in second place appears Uruguay (14.5%), while Paraguay went on to take third place with 13% after moving Chile to fourth with 9.7%, and Bolivia to the fifth place with 7.5%.

With regard to fertilizer imports, there was a significant change as China returned to lead the ranking of suppliers with 32.9%, followed by the USA with 26%, Russia with 13.3%, and Brazil with 4.3%. These four countries account for 76.5% of the market share.