The competitiveness of the crop is based on two main pillars that directly affect it: exchange rate policy and tax policy, and in the latter case, withholding exports. he government It decided to implement a band system in the official exchange rate, seeking to ensure that the dollar does not depreciate too much and the peso continues to appreciate. We can discuss whether the exchange rate is lagging or not; What cannot be discussed is the increase in the cost of goods and services that producers have to pay every time the inflation rate rises. The producer has to sell more and more soybeans or more corn to pay for the same good or service that increases at the rate of inflation, unless the price of soybeans or corn rises above inflation.
When a producer is asked to increase its competitiveness, it has been doing so for many years.: With improved crop genetics, with the rational use of inputs at the lowest cost, with the rational use of fertilizers and with farming techniques that express their maximum potential.
Let us now analyze the case of export blocking and its impact on competitiveness in each of the crops. Starting from sunflowerIts cultivated area increased by 820 thousand hectares during the past two years, reaching the record for the 2025/2026 cycle of 2.67 million hectares and an expected production volume of 5.5 million tons, while Soybean area is expected to decrease by 500,000 hectares for next season.. The main reason for the opposite trend in the area under cultivation of both crops is retention. while Sunflower oil has an export reserve of 4%, and soybean oil has an export reserve of 24.5%.. The reduction in soybean oil withholding from 31% to 24.5%, which the government implemented at the beginning of 2025, was not enough to improve the competitiveness of soybean farming.
Sunflower production is expected to rise by 800,000 tons in recent yearstaking normal trend returns and within the mean. Thanks to this increase in production, sunflower grinding will reach 4.5 million tons this year, and sunflower oil exports in the period from January to October 2025 reached a record level of 1.18 million tons. This increase in sunflower oil exports allowed our country to reach third place in world trade, behind Russia and Ukraine, the first and second exporters.. We were able to enter the Indian market with exports amounting to 650 thousand tons, ranking second after Russia.
Let us now analyze the corn market. The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange announced a rebound in corn in the 2025/26 season. According to preliminary data, the area allocated to grains will reach 7.8 million hectares, an increase of 9.6% compared to last season. In the same period, a decrease of 500,000 hectares in soybean area is expected. The reason remains the same: blocking. While corn is taxed at 9.5%, soybeans are taxed at 26%, and oil and flour are taxed at 24.5%.
The first conclusion is this The competitiveness of soybean cultivation was most affected by the presence of a level of deductions in the case of oil that was six times higher than the level of deductions in the case of sunflower oil.and nearly three times the amounts prohibited for corn. Finally, producers cannot be asked to increase their competitiveness under the current exchange rate policy and with the level of deductions as is the case for soybeans, which has consequences such as those we have analysed. The solution is zero deductions for all products.