Venezuela delay payments to exporters. The transition that supported Venezuela, between the death of President Hugo Chavez and Maduro confirmation as his successor, has generated some disadvantages in foreign trade with Argentina, to such level that some sectors such as the dairy industry, are having delays in payments by the Bolivarian government.
During last year, total exports of Argentine dairy to Venezuela amounted to 99 209 tonnes, this performance represented an increase of 17 percent over 2011.
The main product shipped was milk powder. Between January and December, Argentine dairy companies sent to Venezuela 78 976 tonnes of milk derivative, volume equivalent to 37 percent of total sales in the country throughout the year. High above the seven thousand tons purchased in 2003 by the then Chavez administration.
In terms of values, Venezuela took part in 2012 with 40 percent of the total milk powder exported by Argentina, representing income of 318.3 million dollars, according to the consulting abeceb.com.
In total during 2012 the Argentine dairy purchase by the government of Venezuela exceeded 400 million.
Although from the dairy sector trust that the payments return to normalize once the administration of President Maduro is focused in management (see more information on 18A), manufacturers admit that shipments to that country have been reduced.
The electoral year lived in Venezuela during 2012 made official purchases of food to supply their social plans increase. But in the first two months of the year, Brazil has overtaken Argentine in Venezuela dairy purchases.
The Venezuelan government is the main responsible for making food purchases, this include the dairy trade agreements involving the companies and also the national government. Last month, the Ministry of Agriculture of Argentina assigned a quota of 500 tons of milk powder to be exported to that market. The volume, which was awarded to the cooperative Manfrey, is part of an annual quota of 7,096 tons that the Argentine government will allocated among the companies.
The national government’s requirement to reduce its energy deficit made that Venezuela become in recent years the main supplier of fuels. The trade agreement between the two countries anticipated that the dollars that Argentina had sent to Venezuela, for payment of fuel oil and diesel oil bought to Enarsa and the administrate of the electricity market Cammesa, the Bolivarian government’s targeted towards the acquisition of food and agricultural machinery of Argentina, among other products. This operation at first was in charge of a trust to work abroad.
At the end of 2011, Hugo Chavez and Cristina Kirchner agreed that the administration shall rest on the Banco de la Nacion Argentina. Since that decision, the Government avoids sending dollars abroad and cancel its obligations in pesos, the legal tender with which the Venezuelan state pays to Argentine exporters. Until now, manufacturers of agricultural machinery charge their sales this way  and explain that they have problems.
$ 5,245 per ton.
International price
In the last bid carried out by the platform Global Dairy Trade, the New Zealand cooperative Fonterra, the price of whole milk powder rose to $ 5,245 per ton. However, the upward trend does not end there, and that by August the price is expected to exceed six thousand dollars per ton.
Reasons
The drought that supports New Zealand, from where 50 percent of the milk is exported worldwide, is the reason for the price increase.
Source: Lechería Latina