Paraguay December crush hits lowest rate since 2013: Cappro

Paraguay’s crush industry has reported the lowest utilisation rate since 2013 at the end of December, according to oilseed crushing chamber Cappro, with representatives of the sector appealing to government to help import from other countries.

At 66%, the utilisation rate is 12 percentage points down versus December 2020, according to Cappro.

Paraguayan crushers processed a total of 2.8 million mt of soybean last year, down 18.9% compared to the previous year.

Cappro has recently asked the government for tax and customs flexibility for the import of soybeans, as the industry group seeks to implement a similar scheme to the one already in place in neighbouring Argentina.

There, local crushers are allowed to temporarily import soybean for crushing purposes.

Paraguay’s Vice Minister of Industry, Ramiro Samaniego, recently explained that the proposal from the sector consists of halving the base of the taxes that affect the import of soybeans, in particular value added tax, and other custom taxes.

With these measures, the import cost would drop from $4.62 to $2.94 per mt of soybean, which would imply a 36.3% reduction in expenses, according to a report published by local newspaper Ultima Hora.