Argentina's Cordoba province suffers $870 million drought hit: study

The drought currently affecting most of Argentina’s productive lands has already generated losses of $870 million in the Cordoba province, according to a recent study by Cordoba grain exchange BCCBA.

The districts of Rio Cuarto and Juarez Celman are the most affected, with losses of $280 million and $165 million respectively, the report found, estimating total soybean production of 9.5 million mt in the current crop cycle, down 22% compared to the 2016/17 season.

The total area planted is expected to reach 4.21 million hectares, down 2% versus the previous crop cycle, with the yield totaling 2.4 mt/ha, down from 3.3 mt/ha in the 2016/17 crop season.

The study also highlighted that a total of 240,800 hectares, some 12% of total planted area, would be lost this season to the drought, with soybean conditions rated 4% excellent, 14% very good, 24% good, 42% fair and 17% poor as of mid-March.

Meanwhile, the province’s corn production is forecasted to reach 12.4 million mt in the current crop season with a total area planted of 2.36 million ha and a yield of 6.2 mt/ha.

In the previous crop cycle, local corn production totaled 15.8 million mt, with a total area planted of 2.26 million ha and a yield of 8.1 mt/ha.

A total of 163,000 hectares of corn would not be harvested this crop cycle due to the impact of the drought, with about 65% of the crop rated in a “fair to poor” condition, according to the study.

Cordoba, together with Santa Fe and Buenos Aires, are the top three producers of soybean and corn.

Nationwide, the latest update by the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange (BAGE) estimated that 76.4% of the soy crop was rated "poor to very poor", while "poor to very poor" corn condition extended to 75.2%.

The 2017/18 soy crop is down 18 million mt compared with last year, while the corn harvest is expected to be 7 million mt lower.

Last month, the USDA slashed 7 million off its soybean production estimate taking it to 47 million mt and 3 million off their corn production estimate to 36 million mt.