Oct 24, 2023
Argentina's Peronists Candidate Surpasses Expectations
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Argentina's ruling Peronist party candidate surpassed expectations in Sunday's presidential elections. Sergio Massa, the current economic minister, received 36.3% of the votes vs. Javier Milei with 30.1% and Patricia Bullrich with 23%. A runoff election between the centrist Massa and the far-right radical libertarian Milei will be held on November 19th with the winner taking office on December 10th.
Many blamed the Peronists for the current economic turmoil, but Massa - a moderate - stressed the government's social safety nets and subsidies as the best way to keep hard pressed Argentinians afloat. Milei had pledged to "chainsaw" the economic and political status quo with his tear-it-all-down message. The runoff election will be between two polar opposite economic models for the embattled country.
If Javier Milei succeeds in becoming the next president, he pledged to turbo charge Argentina's agriculture. One thing he has promised is to eliminate export taxes on agricultural commodities which are currently 33% for soybeans, 31% for soybean meal, 31% for soybean oil, 12% for corn, 12% for wheat, 12% for grain sorghum, 7% for sunflowers, and 5% for sunflower oil. Eliminating the export tax would be a boom for farmers. He also said his administration would not intervene in the export markets and stop trying to micromanage domestic food prices.