World Grain - March 2013 - 24

COUNTRYFOCUS

Uruguay grain and oilseed statistics
(in 1,000 tonnes)

2005-06
205

2006-07
338

2007-08
400

2008-09
270

2009-10
529

2010-11
290

2011-12
450

2012-13*
400

Wheat

454

611

800

1,357

1,844

1,300

1,750

1,575

Soybeans

632

818

806

1,170

1,817

1,545

1,600

1,900

Corn

114

151

150

100

Wheat

221

417

948

1,233

773

1,600

1,000

604

766

781

1,115

1,770

1,510

1,560

1,860

132

192

Production

Corn

Exports

Soybeans
Imports

Corn
Wheat imports
* Projected
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture

ture and ﬁsheries saying.
“The diversity of our livestock and agricultural products makes us competitive,
while our successful animal identiﬁcation system has helped the meat industry
develop at a rapid rate,” he said. “This
traceability system is a powerful tool for
disease control and the technology also
enables us to control the quality.”
According the USDA attaché’s annual
report on the oilseeds sector, the area
planted in 2012-13 was set to remain
stable at 950,000 hectares. “Although
there is demand for soy, aggressive expansion is not expected as costs of production creep higher. Land rental prices
are increasing and transportation costs
are going up because of higher fuel costs
and union demands,” the report said.
It echoed the IGC’s soy crop prediction. “With average yields, Uruguay
can be expected to produce 1.9 million
tonnes,” it said.
“Historically, nearly all soybeans are
exported and very little is left for domestic consumption and/or processing,”
the attaché explained. “In fact, up until
now, Uruguay has been a net importer
of soybean oil and meal. Most oil is imported from neighboring Argentina for
food use and meal is imported to meet
the domestic feed demand for the livestock and dairy sectors.
“However, domestic capacity and demand for crush has increased in recent
24

years due to construction of new crushing facilities and biodiesel plants in order
to meet the national biodiesel mandate.”
Uruguay’s National Fuel Administration (ANCAP) published a law in 2007
that mandates diesel be mixed with 5%
biodiesel beginning in 2012. “Next year,
Uruguay will produce more oil and meal
than it imports for the ﬁrst time in the
past 15 years,” the attaché said. “It is
estimated that 35,000 tonnes of soybean
oil will be used for biodiesel next year.”
According to the attaché, Uruguay
exports over 90% of its soybean production as whole beans and 70%-80% of all
beans exported go to China.
“Imports of soybean meal are used for
feed use in the dairy, livestock, and poultry sectors,” the report said. “Demand for
feed is expected to remain strong.”
The USDA post put imports in 201213 at 100,000 tonnes. “Crush is expected to increase in MY2012-13 for
oil production for biofuels,” it said.
“Domestically produced meal, essentially a byproduct of oil production, will
supplement overall feed consumption,
lowering demand for imported meal.”
“Uruguay holds literally no stocks of
soybeans or soybean products,” the report said.
The vast majority of soybeans grown
in Uruguay are GM. “Genetically engineered soybeans are allowed in Uruguay,” the attaché said. “In fact, more

than 99% of all soybean area is planted
with Round-up Ready soybeans, which
is the only variety that has been approved for commercial use.”
“In 2004, an 18-month de facto moratorium on biotechnology approval was
put into place and subsequently removed in 2008,” the report explained.
“Since its removal, several other varieties of soybeans have been approved
for seed production for export only. It
is estimated that less than 0.2% of total
soybean area is dedicated to these seed
varieties. Uruguay also allows ﬁeld testing of new biotech crops.”
In a separate report on biotechnology,
the attaché said that there are “currently
eight biotech events available for production and commercialization in the country: one soybean and seven corn varieties.
“Planted area with GM varieties has
steadily increased for both soybeans
and corn, to reach a total area of 1.1 million hectares planted in 2011. Uruguay
has a predictable regulatory process, is
a global leader in intellectual property
protection, and maintains a strong enforcement system in the seed industry.
These combined traits create good potential for counter season production for
American companies.”
Uruguay is a major exporter of barley malt. The IGC puts exports in 201213 at an unchanged 450,000 tonnes.
Neighboring Brazil is the world’s largMarch 2013 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com

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