Argentina’s crude oil production fell by 2.5% in the first half of 2020, compared to the same period last year. In the first six months of 2020, the quantities of crude oil totalled 14,635,131 cubic metres, in 2019 they accumulated 15,017,396 cubic metres.
While still below pre-pandemic levels, the industry’s installed capacity usage in June rose almost 7 points from May to 53.3%. The most significant increases were in the tobacco, non-metallic minerals and textile industries.
Argentina’s 2020/21 wheat crop would reach 20.5 million tonnes, down from a previous estimate of 21 million tonnes, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in its monthly report on global grain supply and demand. The north and west of Argentina’s agricultural area have been suffering from a significant drought for two months, which has impacted on the development of wheat lots. On the other hand, it kept its forecasts for the 2020/21 soybean crop at 53.5 million tons and corn at and 50 million tons.
The German herbicide company DVA estimates that this year Argentine producers will spend some $2.6 billion on products to prevent weed growth. The figure for the herbicide market is similar to that of 2019. Herbicides make up 65% of what Argentine producers spend on inputs. It is there where it seeks to dispute an increasing portion of the business, for which it launched new products.
Time deposits in pesos from the private sector exceeded 2 billion pesos ($27.39 mn) in the first days of August, a volume that reflects a 40% increase in the last four months since the implementation of Central Bank measures to guarantee minimum returns to savers.
