During the ASAGIR Congress held in Mar del Plata, the president of CIARA-CEC, Gustavo Idígoras, painted a highly positive outlook for sunflower in Argentina, describing it as “the star of the year.” “Sunflower is the star of the year. We have a crop that has grown and is going through historic record moments,” he told Valor Agregado Agro.
According to Idígoras, the current campaign could reach more than 6.2 million tons, of which nearly 5 million tons would be destined for crushing. In this regard, he also highlighted the strong growth in foreign trade: “Sunflower seed shipments of 930,000 tons have already been registered. The previous best historical record was 220,000 tons,” he stated. He also emphasized the performance of the oil: “In terms of sunflower oil, we are tripling exports.”
An international context that favors Argentina
Idígoras explained that the global scenario is driving demand for the Argentine sunflower complex. “The world needs more sunflower oil. Our competitors are in an endless war, as is the case with Ukraine and Russia,” he pointed out. In this context, he assured that the country has a great opportunity: “Argentina has everything it needs to grow. We encourage betting on sunflower, because it has an extraordinary future.”
Waterway: key to improving the price for producers
Another central topic of the interview, conducted together with colleagues, was the bidding process for the waterway, a strategic issue for the entire agroindustry. “After a very long time of failures and disappointments, the tender has finally been launched,” he explained. He detailed that the process is advancing in stages and that two companies are currently in the running: “They are two Belgian companies, like two great Champions League teams.” According to him, if the expected deadlines are met, the award could be finalized in July for a period of 25 years. But the most important thing, he stressed, is the direct impact on the producer: “We are going to rebuild a fluvial highway where 100% of the ships will leave fully loaded.” This would mean a concrete improvement in income: “It will improve the price the producer receives by between 5% and 15%.” And he added: “This will generate more planted area, more production, and more investment in technology.”