In February, exports collapsed 18.9% due to the impact of the drought

The blow from the drought wiped out exports in February.

That month they reached only

, a reduction of 18.9% in relation to the same period of the previous year.

The dollars that the drought stopped contributing made the exchange rate tighten and the drop in imports deepen.

Purchases abroad totaled

, which represented a year-on-year decrease of 10.4%.

This double fall meant that last month it closed with a trade surplus of

, which represented a drop of 77.7% compared to the positive balance of the same month of 2022.

The report released by INDEC this afternoon shows that the drop in exports was mainly due to

With these results February is the

second consecutive month in which the impact of the drought on foreign trade can be seen.

Within the items that make up exports,

.

In this block, cereals contracted 49.7% annually, which explains almost all of the lower exports of primary products.

All export items were negative.

Manufactures of Agricultural Origin fell 16.4%, while Manufactures of Industrial Origin decreased 14.4% and Fuels and energy had a slight contraction of 0.1%.

On the side of imports, the most pronounced decrease was for fuels and energy with 29.6% and for capital goods with 21.1%, essential to develop production.

Among external purchases, the only two categories that managed to grow were Passenger motor vehicles (an increase of 8.3% year-on-year) and Parts and accessories for capital goods (with an increase of 2.8%), although purely and exclusively due to the rise in prices, since imported volumes fell 5.9% and 0.9%, respectively.  

In the first two months of the year, Argentina accumulated a trade deficit of

, compared to a positive balance of US$1,115 million in the same period of 2022.

This result complicates the budget objective of reaching a trade surplus of

.

Last year the result had been US$ 6,923 million.

From

Abeceb they indicate that exports showed

(excluding 2020 in the midst of the pandemic, you have to go back to December 2015 to find a drop greater than that of February of this year).

And they state that

, since the climate does not improve and the projections for agriculture and the gross harvest are getting worse."

The consultant's estimate is that the value of agro-industrial exports

Abeceb points out that imports would also fall in 2023. "The main reason that would explain this decrease is the delicate situation in terms of reserves of the Central Bank."

"Given the Government's reluctance to adjust the official exchange rate, the decline in the supply of agricultural dollars will be sought to be compensated -partially- through

-", says Abeceb.

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