Drought in the heart of Argentina's Pampas grains belt is likely to persist through the second half of February, further reducing yields of soya and corn in the 2017-18 season, climate experts said on Wednesday. A three-month dry spell has led the US government and the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange to cut harvest estimates for Argentina, the world's top exporter of soyameal livestock feed and its No. 3 supplier of both corn and raw soyabeans.
The drought has also put upward pressure on international soya and corn futures prices. "The situation is serious. It would almost take a miracle for the drought not to continue through the rest of February," German Heinzenknecht, a weather specialist with the Applied Climatology consultancy, told Reuters.
Eduardo Sierra, a climate expert at the grains exchange, also said that heavy rains were unlikely in the region in the coming weeks. The Buenos Aires Grains Exchange last week lowered its forecasts for soya and corn in the 2017-18 season, to 50 million tonnes and 39 million tonnes, respectively, citing losses caused by the drought.
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