Uruguay tries to overcome the fall in 2017

The Uruguayan agribusiness sector will try to overcome this year the fall in production and business it suffered in 2016. 

 

Last year, the total production fell by 1.2 percent, with wheat, maize and milk registering a heavy decline. The government plans to keep production stable in 2017.

 

Uruguayan agricultural production has been stagnant although some recovery did take place. 

 

Accustomed to the boom witnessed between the end of 2002 and 2013, 2016 saw low activity. 

 

According to the projection of Tabaré Vázquez's government, agricultural production will barely grow by 0.05 percent this year.

 

While 2015 saw a 1.2 percent increase in production, the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP) calculated that it fell by 1.37 percent. 

 

The beef production, which had risen by 6.8 percent in 2015, saw a drop of 3 percent in 2016. However, this year it is projected to register a rise of 1.7 percent.

 

In the case of milk, which saw a 2 percent drop in production in 2015, the situation worsened in 2016 with a sharp fall (-11 percent), although this year, it is set to see an increase of 2 percent. 

 

Wheat production had recovered by 7.2 percent in 2015, but fell 28.9 percent last year. This year, experts had projected a fall of 8.2 percent but the forecast has been revised to as low as 9.9 percent.

 

Rice production that had been declining over the years, rose last year by 3 percent but is again expected to drop 1.2 percent this year.

 

Maize production fell sharply in 2014, followed by a 1.8 percent recovery in 2015, but again fell last year by 27.1 percent. For this new harvest, experts have projected an increase of 8.4 percent. 

 

Soybeans suffered production losses (the strongest in 2015, when production fell by 28.7 percent), but last year achieved a significant increase of 19.6 percent. This year, oilseeds are expected to maintain the same production volume.

 

The annual report of the MGAP Office of Agricultural Programming and Policy highlighted that "for the second consecutive year of the two pulp mills in the country operating at full capacity, the forest chain once again took center stage among all agro-industrial chains."

 

He maintained that "by the end of 2016, the forestry chain exports were expected to fall by 1 percent in value over the previous year." He also said the “pulp sales increased slightly in dollar terms due to a combination of an increase in the volumes exported and lower sales price."

 

Better inventories and exports were the key to a rise in beef production in 2015-16 as it was almost 7 percent more than the previous year. 

 

As for the volume of beef exported, it is expected to beat the previous year’s record but when but measured in foreign exchange, it is likely to stagnate as average sale price fell.

 

In the new agricultural year, commercial work is expected to rise by 4 percent, but there will also be a parallel drop in production to the extent of 3 percent.