Argentina corn exports surge after record crop and higher global prices
Argentina’s corn exports surged to 33.8 million tonnes in January-August, with containerized exports up 59.5% year-on-year. Record production, stronger prices and rapid harvesting are driving sales, while August shipments are expected at 6.56 million tonnes. Soybean sales remain subdued as farmers await higher prices.
Argentina’s corn export sales, including cargoes already shipped and those scheduled for shipment, reached 33.8 million metric tons between January and August. That is almost 10 million metric tons more than shipments from the entire soybean complex over the same period, the report said.
“The corn crop is fantastic, with almost 34 million metric tons registered for export, and there are still five months to go before the end of the marketing season,” Javier Preciado Patiño, director of RIA Consultores, told Clarín.
The volume already counted for August 2026 has doubled from July, the newspaper reported.
According to Datamar data, Argentina’s containerized corn exports rose 59.5% from the previous year.
Domestic corn prices in Argentina rose $20 per metric ton over the past month, while international prices reached their highest level in 20 months.
According to estimates cited by Clarín, Argentine corn shipments are expected to reach 6.56 million metric tons in August 2026, twice the 3.22 million metric tons shipped in July.
Another 3.5 million metric tons of corn are already scheduled for shipment in September, although export-sector sources told the newspaper that total exports next month could reach 6 million metric tons or more.
Corn truck flows intensify at Greater Rosario ports
The export surge can be seen in the large number of trucks arriving at ports in Greater Rosario, Argentina’s main grain-export hub, most of them loaded with corn.
According to Agroentregas, 4,570 trucks were counted last Wednesday, including 2,337 carrying corn and 1,636 carrying soybeans.
Compared with the previous Wednesday, the total number of trucks was up 26%, Clarín reported.
The heavy flow of corn trucks heading to port is supported by two main factors. First, favorable weather has allowed producers to keep harvesting.
So far, 81% of the total corn area has been harvested, with production projected at 64 million metric tons. That means 52.5 million metric tons of corn have already been collected from the fields, according to the report.
“This greater availability, together with the increase in prices driven by international gains, is encouraging grain sales by producers, who continue to choose corn as their preferred option to generate liquidity, leaving soybeans as a store of value,” Clarín said.
Prices strengthen producer sales
Strong grain availability has supported sales by Argentine farmers, and favorable prices have reinforced the trend.
Spot corn was trading at around $200 per metric ton in Argentina, while December-delivery deals were reported at between $207 and $210 per metric ton.
Considering that corn was valued at $180 per metric ton in July 2026, current prices are more than persuasive for farmers, the report said.
Sales consultant Paulina Lescano told Clarín that the price environment has been driving business.
“These prices have also performed very well and are generating a lot of sales by producers,” she said. “Corn remains the preferred crop for commercialization, both for current stocks and for the next harvest.”
Lescano cited one example: in a week when 1.6 million metric tons of grains were sold, soybean sales totaled 700,000 metric tons. The following week, soybean sales fell to only 100,000 metric tons.
As a result, she said, soybeans remain the crop producers are least willing to sell, as they wait for prices to rise further.
Lorena D’Angelo, grain analyst at AZ-Group, said that in early August 2026, between 400,000 and 500,000 metric tons of grain were traded per day. More recently, some days reached 1.1 million metric tons before easing, with an average of 800,000 metric tons across all products — still above levels seen at the start of the month.
According to D’Angelo, total business last week reached 1.5 million metric tons, including fixed-price deals and spot-market transactions, compared with 430,000 metric tons the previous week. That figure, however, also includes sales of corn from the next crop.
The rise in Argentine corn prices is partly explained by strong export demand, but also by gains on the Chicago market, Clarín reported.
The momentum in Argentina corn exports highlights the country’s stronger role in global grain trade this season, with record production, higher prices and intense port logistics activity converging around the corn market.
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Source : Datamar News
