Farmers' protests put exports from the key agricultural country at risk
Straits Times 27 Mar 08;
BUENOS AIRES - A NATIONWIDE strike by Argentina's farmers and ranchers is raising fears that it would affect world food supplies and prices.
South America's second-largest economy after Brazil is a leading exporter of soya beans, beef and wheat.
In a first sign of trouble, soya bean prices have shot up and shipments to China, a major importer, have been disrupted.
The strike began on March 13 after the government announced new sliding-scale increases in export taxes.
Soya bean taxes, for example, were raised from 35 per cent to up to 45 per cent, with smaller increases on corn and other farm products.
The government hopes to replenish its coffers through the taxes on the back of soaring grain exports and commodity prices.
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's refusal to negotiate with farmers and ranchers has fuelled their ire, sparking large, pot-banging protests across Argentine cities for the first time in years.
She argued that the agricultural industry remained one of the country's most profitable despite the export tax increases, imposed at a time of surging global demand for Argentina's key exports of corn, wheat, soya beans and beef.
Protester Hector Bernardino, who was among the 5,000 who thronged the main plaza in Buenos Aires into the early hours of yesterday, said: 'This is a pretty ugly wake-up alarm for the government after just a few months in power.'
Outside the President's residence, protesters banged on the shuttered gates, shouting 'Argentina! Argentina! Cristina, resign!'
Mrs Kirchner won last year's polls and took office in December, succeeding her husband Nestor de Kirchner.
The pot-banging protests are called 'cacerolazos' - Spanish for the kinds of demonstrations used to bring down ill-fated former leaders during a 2001-2002 economic meltdown.
Protest organisers declared that the strike would continue 'indefinitely'.
The farmers' strike has forced several suppliers of soya beans and soya oil to halt shipments to China, the world's top importer, prompting worries of a possible shortage in May.
Singapore is unlikely to be affected because Argentina is not a major source of imports, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority told The Straits Times yesterday.
Just over 3,000 tonnes of food - including seafood, fruit and beef - came in from Argentina, comprising a small fraction of total imports.
ASSOCIATED PRESS, REUTERS
