Paraguay’s 2021 soybean shipments fall 4.4% y-o-y: Central Bank

Paraguay exported a total of 6.33 million mt of soybeans in 2021, a decline of 4.4% compared with the 6.62 million mt shipped during 2020, the latest data from the country’s central bank showed.

Argentina remains the largest receiver of Paraguayan soybeans, with shipments coming in at 4.58 million mt, down 8.9% compared to 2020 and amounting to 72.4% of Paraguay’s total soybean shipments during the year.

Meanwhile, soybean exports to Brazil decreased 1.1% year-on-year to 759,600 mt or 12% of total soybean exports, although in terms of value, soybean exports generated a total of $2.97 billion, up 38.6% amid strong international prices.

The report also showed that the country’s soybean oil exports also slowed, falling 11% when compared to 2020 to reach 561,800 mt, while soymeal shipments totaled 1.88 million mt in 2021, down 9.5%.

Grain exports

On corn, shipments during 2021 amounted to 1.90 million mt, down 9.7% compare to exports of 2.10 million mt the previous year.

In the wheat segment, Paraguay shipped a total of 337,500 mt last year, an increase of 19.3% compared to exports of 282.900 mt in 2020, according to the report.

Paraguay is expected to produce 8.5 million mt of soybean in the 2021/22 crop cycle, according to the latest update from the USDA, with exports forecast at 5.25 million mt.

The US agency also forecast soymeal exports of 1.85 million mt  and soyoil exports of 535,000 mt.

Domestic crushing should take 3.1 million mt of soybean.

The lack of rain affecting large parts of Paraguay is expected to cut the country’s soybean production, with some outlooks expecting production to fall from 10 million mt to around 7 million mt.

Paraguay’s Minister of Agriculture, Moises Bertoni, has also said production could decline to 6 million mt compared to the initial estimate of 10 million mt.