At the Expoagro stands the state of the field is summarized: it rained, the heat subsided, the yields improved and it shows.
There is a
strength that contrasts with the other productive sectors.
Producers are seen writing down characteristics and taking photos of the “irons” as they call the seeders and harvesters or the large irrigation equipment and sprayers.
And they are also
seen inside the rooms doing numbers with the vendors.
In 2023, through historic drought,
they passed by
.
Others spend a good part of the day demonstrating technological skills in the field.
Machinery, inputs up to plant genetics and bovine livestock.
Photo: Maxi Failla
Banks also appeared offering financing.
The Nation started with rates of
1.5% per year in dollars and a one-year grace period
.
The Macro at
0% in dollars.
The Provincia offers pesos at 65% annually and BBVA at 64% with a term of 48 months.
And numerous machinery factories, in order to sell, launched their own grain exchange plan.
This is the case of Stara with Brazilian capital and a factory in General Alvear in Santa Fe.
Curious.
Bankers appear enthusiastic not only about lending to the countryside, but also about embarking on commercialization.
This is the case of the owner of Comafi, Guillermo Cerviño,
who joined the former Cargill, Cristian Sicardi, Javier Iraola and Eduardo Racedo for grain and meat transactions.
Alfredo Gusmán, president of the Latin American Angus Confederation, highlights new actors as a result of the interest that Argentine genetics arouses in livestock breeds.
"They come from the US, Mexico and Europe to buy and take
everything at the elite livestock auctions,"
he says, anticipating that meat will increasingly be an export business.
Expoagro 2024 edition in San Nicolás.
Photo: Maxi Failla
Some highlight the advances of genetics in other areas.
This is the case of Fernando Díaz Colodrero, leader in the export of confectionery sunflowers, who developed
varieties based on the desires of each market
.
His clients are the United States, the countries of North Africa and Spain among 60 destinations.
Díaz Colodrero has just landed as the main shareholder of the well-known Tía Maruca cookie brand.
“Expectations have been generated and it is expected that the dynamic sectors of the economy, such as agriculture, mining and energy,
will produce a rebound with investment growth in a few months
,” says Martín Berardi, president of Ternium, the subsidiary of Ternium. Techint for flat steels.
“I am optimistic, but first the relative prices
have to adjust
,” says David Hughes, president of Argentrigo, which brings together the cereal production chain.
Business climate at Expoagro 2024. Photo: Juan José García
For Francisco de la Fuente, with the merit of having introduced soybeans in South Africa and producing seeds in that country, “the issue is political.
This uncertainty is fantastic,”
he says in obvious praise of Javier Milei.
Ricardo Smith Estrada agreed: “We are experiencing a change that goes beyond Milei.”
Rosana Negrini, the president of Agrometal, says that after a 2023 that combined drought, dejection of producers and political uncertainty, “now there is another mood.
We adjust production without laying off people and we try to sell as much as we can.”
Negrini already exports to the region and is excited about its next
opening in Eastern Europe with a Bulgarian partner.
Along the same lines, Gastón Ricardo, the owner of the Indecar planter and fertilizer factory, observes
caution and enthusiasm at the same time
in the producers.
“The first semester will be hard," he warns while looking for alternatives such as joining with the seed companies Bioceres and the American company Stir so that they can multiply seeds in fields worked with their seeders that are worth up to US $519,000.