Argentina's Record Corn Harvest Puts More Grain Into Export Markets
- Argentina's 2025/26 corn exports reached 43.5 million tonnes, worth almost US$9.4 billion (about £7.1 billion).
- National corn production hit a record 64 million tonnes, six million above initial estimates.
- Nearly 4 million tonnes of corn went to domestic dry milling or bioethanol, also a record.
A record Argentine corn crop puts more grain on the water than any season before it.
Argentina has closed out its biggest corn harvest on record, with exports of 43.5 million tonnes bringing in almost US$9.4 billion (about £7.1 billion), a rise of 54.2% on last year. For UK manufacturers buying maize for animal feed, starch or syrup, the practical point is how much more grain is reaching world export markets at once.
The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange published its closing report on the 2025/26 corn campaign this week, according to Infocampo. The area planted reached 8.4 million hectares, up 18.3% on the previous season and 600,000 hectares above the exchange's initial projection of 7.8 million. Average national yield hit 77.4 quintals per hectare, 7.8% higher than last season and 14.2% above the five year average. Production came in at 64 million tonnes, six million tonnes above the original estimate, with yields running ahead of expectations in the West Buenos Aires and North La Pampa region.
Gross corn product for the season reached US$23.1 billion (about £17.5 billion), up 26% on the year before. Export revenue, from that record 43.5 million tonne shipment volume, totalled US$9.4 billion (about £7.1 billion), a 54.2% increase. Fiscal revenue from the crop, driven mainly by export taxes, rose to US$5.3 billion (about £4.0 billion), up 23%.
Córdoba, the province that grows more corn than any other in Argentina, also posted a record. The Córdoba Grain Exchange reported corn output of 26 million tonnes, up 47% on last year and 84% above the historical average dating back to 2007. Corn made up more than six in ten tonnes of the province's entire 40.8 million tonne summer crop.
For animal nutrition buyers, the number that matters is the volume, not a single price move. With 43.5 million tonnes now in the global trading pool, the supplier base available to feed compounders sourcing maize has widened. Freight bookings out of Argentine ports will carry unusually high volumes this season, which is worth checking against any vessel scheduling already agreed for South American grain.
Businesses buying corn-based starch, glucose syrup or bioethanol-linked inputs should note that domestic industrial use is also at a record, near 4 million tonnes. That volume is drawing on the same harvest competing for supply inside Argentina, alongside the export pipeline.