Bunge can cope should Argentina strike resume

24 April 2008 17:55  [Source: ICIS news]

TORONTO (ICIS news)--Bunge, South America’s largest processor and exporter of soybean and largest seller of fertilizer, will be able to cope should Argentina’s farmers strike flare up again, CEO Alberto Weisser said on Thursday.

 

The US-based fertilizer and oilseed processor would be able to supply customers from facilities in Brazil, where farmers were having a very large harvest, Weisser said in briefing analysts on the company’s first-quarter results and outlook.

 

“If we had another strike, this would affect us, but we are preparing ourselves to serve our customers,” he said.

 

Any strike, should it occur, would likely be short, he added.

 

Market reports from Argentina this week said buyers there were stocking up on fears farmers may soon resume their strike.

 

A three-week strike over a tax increase on exports in March caused beef shortages on the Argentine domestic market and cut into exports of food and agricultural products before it was suspended in early April.

 

Bunge, for its part, did not suffer much from the March strike as it was able to serve customers from inventories, Weisser said.

 

“We were able to adjust quickly and didn’t have a significant hit,” he said, adding the strike’s overall impact on Bunge’s first quarter was neutral.

By: Stefan Baumgarten
+1 713 525 2653

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