Argentina to see bumper harvest

Argentina's crop harvest is set to increase by 4.1 percent in the 2013-2014 farming season, a private-sector report said Thursday.

The report, released by the consulting firm Sectors Economic Research,forecast a harvest of "103.9 million tons, an increase of 4.1 percent compared to the previous season."

November rains "reverted the water deficit that was delaying the sowing" and thus improved the expected harvest, it said.

The report added that agricultural products exports in the first 10 months of this year reached 26.839 billion U.S. dollars, "a slight 0.8 percent growth" over the previous year.

While export revenue increased slightly, actual export volume fell 6.3 percent in the same period to 61.7 million tons.

Agribusiness is vital for Argentina's export trade. Agricultural exports "accounted for 41.4 percent of the country's total exports until October 2013, higher than the 39.1 percent for the same period in 2012," said the report.

Argentina is the world's third largest producer of soy, soy oil and soybean pellets, the fourth largest producer of sunflower oil, the fifth largest producer of corn and sorghum, and the sixth largest producer of wheat.