Argentina crop exports grow in wake of Macri’s election

Crop exports from Argentina grew by $2 billion in the second half of December following the election of Mauricio Macri, according to Ciara-Cec, a large exporter group that comprises local and international producers such as Louis Dreyfus Commodities.

Last week exports were valued at $752 million, while overall exports last year totalled $19.9 billion. But although that figure was less than 2014’s $24.1 billion, exporters are already expecting grain export values to reach $3 billion by mid-January, according to Bloomberg.

Macri lifted currency controls on the peso and threw out many of the country’s crop taxes in the second half of December, leading the currency value to fall by around 30 percent.

Macri said in December that he would lower the previous 35 percent grain and soybean export taxes by 5 percent a year.