MORE HEAVY RAINS IN ARGENTINE GRAIN AREAS

  Heavy rains fell again in
  Argentina's main grain growing areas in the week to yesterday,
  trade sources said.
      Rains fell heaviest early in the week, and in particularly
  high volume in Buenos Aires province, Cordoba, La Pampa and
  Santa Fe provinces.
      Rainfall totalled between 20 and 290 mm in Buenos Aires,
  heaviest in western sectors of the province, 20 to 145 mm in La
  Pampa, 25 to 120 mm in Cordoba, and 10 to 75 mm in Santa Fe.
  Rainfall was lighter in other provinces.
      Rainfall totalled from five to 50 mm in Corrientes, five to
  31 mm in San Luis, five to 30 mm in Entre Rios, three to 20 mm
  in Misiones, 11 to 17 mm in Formosa and one to eight mm in
  Chaco.
      Growers said it was still too early to tell whether the
  rains had damaged crops, though they said maize and sunflower
  crops may have suffered.
      Harvesting of both those crops and sorghum was paralysed by
  the bad weather. For harvesting to resume as normal, the rains
  would have to stop long enough for the soil to dry and allow
  farm machinery to operate.
      The rains caused flooding in western and northwestern
  Buenos Aires, as more than 750 mm have fallen in some areas
  there since February 23 while the annual average is 1,200 mm.
      Flooded areas total between 1.2 and 1.5 mln hectares,
  Buenos Aires province governor Alejandro Armendariz said after
  flying over the flooded area.
      Agriculture Secretary Ernesto Figueras said only 500,000
  hectares of the area now flooded had been planted, and that
  200,000 to 300,000 hectares could be lost. Growers said large
  parts of the flooded areas were not planted because they are
  low-lying and flood easily.
      Trade sources said it was certain crops were damaged by the
  heavy rains but it was too early to tell the exact extent of
  the damage. They said it was likely rain combined with high
  winds uprooted many sunflower and maize plants.
      The sunflower harvest moved forward in the centre and south
  of Cordoba and Santa Fe and got underway in a few isolated
  areas of northern Buenos Aires. Growers have harvested between
  15 and 18 pct of total planted area, up from seven to nine pct
  a week ago.
      Estimates of the total volume of the sunflower crop were
  revised downward in light of the bad weather.
      Estimates for total crop ranged from 2.3 to 2.6 mln tonnes,
  down from 2.4 to 2.7 mln tonnes estimated last week and down
  34.1 to 41.5 pct from last year's record harvest of 4.1 mln
  tonnes.
      Maize harvesting also advanced, reaching between 13 and 15
  pct of total planted area compared to seven to nine pct a week
  ago. The maize harvest is expected to total between 10 and 10.2
  mln tonnes, down from the 10 to 10.4 mln tonnes estimated a
  week ago.
      Last year's maize harvest totalled 12.8 mln tonnes,
  according to official figures.
      Soybean production estimates were revised downward, to 7.8
  to 8.2 mln tonnes compared to estimates of eight to 8.4 mln
  tonnes a week ago. Last year's soybean harvest totalled 7.1 mln
  tonnes, according to official figures.
      Sorghum harvesting moved slowly forward, reaching between
  four and six pct of total planted area, compared to two to four
  pct a week ago.
      Sorghum production estimates remained steady at 3.2 to 3.5
  mln tonnes, down 16.7 to 22 pct from the 4.1 to 4.2 mln tonnes
  produced in the last harvest.
  

