Which Argentinean agricultural companies lead the ranking of RTRS-certified soybean tonnes?
In the historical ranking of tonnes of soya certified by the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS), there are companies with a low public profile but of great importance.
Communication published in Bichos de Campo: https://bichosdecampo.com/cuales-son-las-empresas-agropecuarias-argentinas-que-lideran-el-ranking-de-toneladas-de-soja-certificadas-rtrs/
In first place is Provinvet S.A. with more than 96,000 tons (around 3,400 trucks), a company belonging to Ciro Echesortu’s Ceibos Group, former global CEO of Louis Dreyfus Company. Other companies in this group are Roagro, Santa Clara (dairy products) and Jewell (pulses).
Second place with 46,640 tonnes goes to Espartina, the agricultural company owned by Marcelo Carrique, the president of the Bioceres group. Meanwhile, third place goes to Tecnocampo with 42,195 tonnes, an agro-industrial company from Cordoba owned by the Amuchástegui family.
In the following positions in the ranking table are Adecoagro with almost 35,000 certified RTRS tonnes, followed by Cosufi S.A. with 28,188, the northern company Viluco with 28,075, Aceitera General Deheza with 26,770, Administración Enrique Duhau with 26,458, Vireyes Agropecuaria with 22,790 and Ledesma with 22,210 tonnes.
During 2023, a total of 7.5 million tonnes of RTRS-certified soybeans will be reached. In Latin America, Brazil topped the list of countries with the highest production of certified soybeans with 6.4 million tonnes. Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay together contributed 540,000 tonnes.
The RTRS certification, which is obtained by means of an audit, requires verifying compliance with all municipal, provincial and national regulations that an agricultural company must comply with, in addition to controlling health and safety guidelines, good agricultural practices and community engagement actions, among other aspects.
The process involves all the people related to the company: its own and contracted personnel, suppliers and clients. For example, in the case of an input supplier, compliance with agreed deadlines, complaints made in the last year and knowledge of the products marketed can be assessed.
Once a company is certified, each tonne of soy traded is equivalent to one RTRS credit, which is traded on the online platform of the Round Table on Responsible Soy Association. Traded values of RTRS credits range from 2.0 to 4.0 u$s/tonne.
Buyers of RTRS credits are typically large companies and organisations committed to the programme, such as Tesco, GISIS S.A., the Crown of Denmark, Unilever, Danone, De Heus Voeders BV, Arla Foods, Cargill and Cofco, among others.
