
6 minute read
The Dry Summer in Argentina and Other Updates of the Season
The South American crops are approaching their harvest season, with Brazil already in full swing and Argentina closing in. Due to the summer weather, however, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the crops in the region. Brazil has experienced abundant and beneficial rains throughout the season, which have caused some issues with harvesting but should result in good quality and yields. In contrast, Argentina has suffered the most severe drought in the last 80 years, and an unexpected frost in mid-February added to the industry's panic. As rains finally arrived in March, growers remain hopeful that April will bring high temperatures to help recover some of the lost time. Yields and quality are yet to be determined, but it is clear that Argentina will export less than in 2022.
The producing countries of the Northern Hemisphere are starting to define their planting and appear to be willing to increase their areas due to price trends. The US and China are heading in this direction, but their peanuts will not be available until the end of the year. Consumption in Europe seems stable and unaffected by inflation, and supply flows to the continent are currently smooth.
The second semester of 2023, however, could pose some challenges to peanut supply to Europe. Time will tell… The next few months will provide the market with the necessary information to replace uncertainty with reality.
In this issue of World Peanut Magazine, we have interviewed two peanut scientists, Soraya and David Bertioli, about advances in peanut genetics and the importance of sharing scientific findings worldwide. We also continue our analysis of peanut trade flows, shifting our focus from Europe (WPM issue 5) to the exporters and importers of the Americas. Additionally, we discuss with industry experts the crucial role container conditions play in maintaining peanut quality during transportation. Our series on peanut processing takes a closer look at final sizing, and the section on peanuts as a healthy food is dedicated to Paçoca, a Brazilian sweet delicacy.
_ Market Trends
This section of the wpm deals with the dynamics of the demand and supply of peanuts in the international markets. We will try to keep track of the changes in peanut consumption in the main areas of the world, the factors that can affect production, and the price shifts of the various peanut products.
_ Industrial Processing
This area of the magazine focuses on shellers as well as companies transforming peanuts into consumer products. We will focus on current industry standards, quality issues, new technologies and the different industrial solutions adopted by producing countries. A special section will be dedicated to new products and tools for peanut processing developed by the best manufacturers.
_ Science and Technology
The activities of the universities and other research institutes engaged in scientific research on peanuts are of paramount importance for the future of the business. We will follow the main discoveries, from the latest issues concerning peanut genetics to the development of projects on pathogens or the impact of peanut consumption on human health. The consequences of scientific research on the future of the industry are hard to overstate, so we will be putting them in perspective in order to try to understand where the sector is heading in the long term.
_ Laws and Regulations
The Laws and Regulations section of World Peanut Magazine analyses the impact of new legislation and regulations affecting the production and trade of peanuts. The main issues treated in this section are governmental measures directly affecting international trade (such as the introduction of tariffs or quotas), health safety issues (such as the establishment of Maximum Residue Limits for certain substances) but also legislation impacting distribution, packaging and sales.
_ Peanut as a Superfood
This section offers peanut professionals news and insights into the world of peanut consumption and all its aspects. Typical news is related to findings concerning the nutritional values of peanuts, the impact of peanut consumption on human health, and the development of peanut-based food.

_ Peanut Farming
The primary production is where the peanut business starts, of course, so we will have a dedicated section for all events, activities, techniques and equipment related to growing peanuts in different parts of the world. The general idea is to bring farming in the producing countries closer to all peanut professionals so that they can have a better grasp of the business from a grower’s perspective and maybe on what the future of peanut farming may look like.
Sometimes the quality and maintenance of the units do not receive the attention they deserve.

Usually when something goes wrong, whether it happens when loading or during the freight, the problem becomes apparent once the container arrives at port, and the content is downloaded. Understanding which party is responsible is not always easy and, in some cases, the companies involved attempt to avoid liability by addressing the malpractice of the other actors in the logistic chain. Typical causes of these accidents are faulty procedures when stacking the containers on the ship, but many times accidents could be avoided with the proper inspection and maintenance of the containers themselves. For this issue of World Peanut Magazine, we sought the opinion of two experts to look more closely at container quality and inspection in general and the potential impact on the peanut trade.
Perhaps the main reference for container standards in the world is the USbased Institute of International Container Lessors (IICL), “the leading trade association of the marine container leasing and chassis provider industry… The IICL, on behalf of its members, is active in governmental, regulatory, customs, tax, educational, technological, and environmental matters.” In this capacity, the institute issues international standards for the inspection and maintenance of containers. International rules for the handling of containers also have a recognized base in the 1972 Convention for Safe Containers, the goal of which is to “facilitate the international transport of containers by providing uniform international safety regulations, equally applicable to all modes of surface transport.”


The problem is that on many occasions the parties involved do not follow the standards at all, and, in fact, as Ricardo Pagnon Terraga states, “IICL standards are not generalized.” Particularly during the Covid emergency, when the cost of freight and container leases went through the roof, many lines instructed inspectors not to follow IICL practices but rather “just inspect light and water.” Pagnon is a IICL-certified container inspector at the Port of Valencia, Spain, and explains that even though freighters do not want to risk damaging the goods, the cost can become the prevailing issue: “Sometimes the freight line, when receiving a repair quote for a unit that had been inspected according to the company’s criteria, just changes it and gets rid of a few items.” Unfortunately, sometimes, those who decide on the details of container maintenance and repair “do not have the necessary experience in either inspection, or repair.”
Of course, the lack of proper repairs can be dangerous: “If a container bean was hit and curved, it is very important how to position the container within the ship: the faulty bean might cause the collapse of an entire pile.”

During the Covid emergency the situation was very difficult for the peanut trade: “The main problems have been the low availability and the high cost,” says Pablo Mataloni, head of certification services at JLA in Argentina, “but an additional issue was the use of general purpose containers for peanuts, something we were not used to… At JLA the inspection points were described in detail in our procedures, but we had to work on the internal communications to make sure that all the personnel was informed and would address the issue in the different loading points.”
Inspections by JLA are concentrated on two elements:
1. The physical conditions of the container in order to detect problems such as roof and walls perforations; stains in the floor and walls; corrosion, lack of gasket and proper door lock.


2. Sanitary conditions: cleaning and abnormal odors.
“Any non-compliance,” Pablo says, “we advise against the use of the container. We do not have an exact record of the number of containers that were rejected during this period. But surely the number of units with odors and bad appearance increased. ”
The same concerns are shared, of course, by customers receiving the containers, in Europe and elsewhere. There is concern about, “container conditions in general but especially regarding chemical treatment that can impact the food product transported,” a large international peanut importer told us. “It is difficult to identify off-odors and with a non-food grade container these risks are higher. It would be very helpful to understand container companies’ practices and set actions to mitigate cross contaminations.” It is not rare to detect, “condensation and visible mold; these problems can increase before arrival at destination. Regarding physical issues, bag damage is a very high issue during transport overseas.”
“Fortunately,” Pablo Mataloni adds, “since mid-2022 we have started to receive a much higher percentage of containers specifically designed to transport food. Of course, the rejection rate dropped dramatically.”
From the Argentine Peanut Chamber, we can add that since the implementation of a regulation of the fiscal authorities (AFIP Resolution Nº 2977/10 concerning enterprises authorized to export from the factory) in 2015, loading operations at shelling plants must be recorded by customs-operated cameras, and the recordings must be kept for one year. These records are commonly used as a source of pictures or videos to prove that loading was done in the proper manner, thus releasing the company from responsibility during loading.

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