Argentina ready to fill Vietnams wheat supply gap: export chamber

Argentina could export up to 2 million tonnes of wheat to Vietnam per year, replacing shipments from Russia which were suspended because of the presence of thistle seed, Argentina’s export company chamber said on Wednesday.

A combine harvester is used to harvest wheat in a field in the village of General Belgrano, 160 km (100 miles) west of Buenos Aires, December 18, 2012. Photo: Reuters

“Vietnam has recognized that Argentina can be certified free of these pests, which brought Russian wheat into question,” Gustavo Idigoras, head of the Argentine agro-industrial export chamber CIARA-CEC, told Reuters.

The chamber represents companies such as Cargill and Bunge.    

“We understand that the talks between Russia and Vietnam are going to go on for a long time,” said Idigoras, who explained that Argentina is in a position to increase the 800,000 tonnes of wheat it currently sends to Vietnam per year to 2 million tonnes.

In mid-October Vietnam asked Russia to suspend the issuance of wheat export certificates because it found thistle seed in Russian cereal shipments.

Global wheat exporter Argentina’s harvest in the current 2019/20 season is estimated at 19.5 million tons, according to the Buenos Aires Cereal Exchange.