BUENOS AIRES, Nov 19 (Reuters) -
Argentina's main farm areas benefited from good weather last week and over the
weekend, helping growers advance soy planting that has been delayed by months
of heavy rain and flooding, a meteorologist said on Monday.
But the Pampas has been hit by
storms since August, raising concerns about supplies at a time of low world
food stocks.
After what some climate specialists
described as an early arrival of the El Nino effect this year, which tends to
bring rain to Argentina and southern Brazil, farmers saw their planting
equipment bog down in mushy topsoils.
"Over the weekend there was
some rain in some parts of the province of Buenos Aires, but it was not very
intense and really did not cause any significant disruption," he added.
According to the National Weather
Service (SMN), scattered showers will bring between 10 and 40 millimeters of
water in Argentina's two main grains provinces of Buenos Aires and Cordoba by
Wednesday.
The Argentine government says the
country can produce 55 million to 58 million tonnes of soybeans this season if
the weather cooperates.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) expects Argentina to harvest 55 million tonnes of soy, 11.5 million
tonnes of wheat and 28 million tonnes of corn in the current 2012/13 crop year.
Sharp food price increases have
serious implications for the global economy, driving up inflation at a time
when consumers in many developed countries are struggling with rising
unemployment.
