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The low water levels on the Paraná River which have hit soyabean exports look set to last the rest of the year, according to an expert from Argentina’s National Water Institute (INA) quoted by AgriCensus on 11 May.

The comments were made by INA’s Juan Borus during an online presentation organised by the Rosario Board of Trade (BCR).

According to Borus, there were no indications that the situation could change in the near future as the INA did not forecast high volumes of rains in the north of Argentina and the south of Brazil.
“I believe that the scenario could change once we have rains by the end of the spring. That will improve water levels in the first months of next year,” he said.

The Paraná River’s measurement index had registered 0.5m on 10 May, well below the minimum 2.47m level required for normal operations.

The low water levels in some sections of the Paraná River had hit soyabean exports, affecting nearly 150 barges loaded with 220,000M tonnes of soyabeans, Juan Carloz Munoz, head of the country’s maritime and shipping chamber CAFyM told AgriCensus.

“We expect that this adverse scenario will delay the country’s soyabean programme, which was initially scheduled to be completed by mid-July and we now estimate that it could be completed in September or October,” he said.