While producers maintain their demands for better prices for raw materials,
sales of yerba mate continue to increase
. In the first two months, the output of yerba mate from the mills to the domestic and foreign markets increased by 6.2% compared to the same period last year.
The National Institute of Yerba Mate (INYM) detailed in its monthly report that
in February 20,155,532 kilos were sold to Argentine materos; while another 2,902,116 kilos left for other markets
.
If January sales are added, in the first two months Argentines demanded 41,687,650 kilos in the first two months of the year, 1.5 million more than in the first two months of 2023. The growth was 3.9%, a more than interesting volume in times of economic recession in the country.
While shipments abroad increased by 1.25 million kilos in the same period, to reach 6,945,742 kilos. That is,
the year started with a 22% increase in exports.
On the producers' side, there
was a strong increase in the summer harvest
compared to the previous three years, which were conditioned by the intense drought that affected the entire producing region. In the first two months of the year, almost 55 million kilos were harvested, with an increase of more than 130 percent compared to last year. The farmers' need to cover their bills and good sprouting after the regularization of the rains are some of the factors that prompted the farmers to harvest in summer.
Claudio Hacklander, representative of primary producers at the National Yerba Mate Institute, announced that “after the drought of recent years,
we are going to have a significantly higher harvest
.” We are going to greatly exceed what was produced in previous years and that can be a complication because the yerba mate market is very limited. Overproduction will cause a drop in green leaf prices and dryers will extend payment terms,” he warned.
Regarding the increase in the amount of raw material, Hacklander said that “grasses that were planted between 2017 and 2020 are entering full production. They are very high-density grasses,” he explained. The ruralista said that "until a few years ago we had 180,000 hectares of grass but now the surface area has increased to more than 210,000 hectares and today there is no market for so much grass," he lamented.
Currently,
the industrial sector is paying 370 pesos per kilo of green leaves put in the dryer
, but producers assure that it should reach 505 pesos to be profitable and allow good management of the herbs.
At the National Yerba Mate Institute
they could not set prices for the thick harvest season due to the lack of representatives from Corrientes and the mills.
These sectors argue that the Institute has been headless since December and that the DNU is in force, which took away its powers to establish reference values for green leaf and courtada (dried grass, without grinding).
Since the price session could never be opened, the INYM cannot request the ruling from Agriculture of the Nation. Despite this, in the coming days the background information and cost grid will be sent in an attempt for the Ministry of Bioeconomy to analyze the situation and take some measure to maintain the profitability of the farmers.