Argentina’s Rosario Grain Port Slips in Global Rankings Due to Drought

April 26 (Reuters) – Argentina’s massive Rosario farming port lost its spot as the world’s No. 2 grains export hub in 2023, a report from a local exchange showed on Friday, underscoring the impact of a historic drought that hammered corn, wheat and soy last year.

Rosario shipped out 42.4 million metric tons of grains last year, falling below the sprawling Santos port in Brazil, which exported 62.3 million tons. New Orleans, in the United States, nabbed the No. 1 spot, the Rosario grains exchange report said.

The Argentine port was the top in the world in 2019 and held the No. 2 spot from 2020 to 2022, the exchange added.

“The impact of the historic drought that affected production of Argentine grains in the 2022/23 campaign dented shipment numbers last year,” the exchange said in a report.

“That pushed Gran Rosario to give up its second place in the ranking that it had obtained between the years 2020-2022.

The South American country’s grains production has rebounded in the latest 2023/24 season, though the corn crop has been hit by an insect plague spreading disease, while soy faces potential cuts due to dry and hot weather in the northern farm regions.

The Rosario exchange also acknowledged the “phenomenal performance” of the Santos port in Brazil, which doubled its farm exports in six years, “hand in hand with an explosion in Brazilian grains production.”

(Reporting by Kylie Madry; Editing by Aurora Ellis)

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