In March, yerba mate exports took another leap despite the conflict in the Middle East

In the first three months of 2026, 10,840,446 kilos were sold to the world, compared to 9,820,391 kilos in the same period last year.

Shipments had fallen considerably in February, but in March they showed a notable recovery andand placed at 4,541,352 kilos. If the comparison is made with the same month of 2025, it appears that this year demand increased by 612,958 kilos.

In the domestic market the numbers are still in the red. In the January-March period, the mills shipped 64,970,974 kilos to the marketing centers, compared to 66,376,744 kilos last year. That is to say that at the beginning of the year, Argentine farmers stopped consuming 15,619 kilos of weed per day.

That red is reduced to only 385,695 kilos if the internal and external demands for yerba mate are taken as a reference: in the first quarter of 2025, 76,197,135 kilos had left the mills against 75,811,440 kilos in the same period of this year.

Regarding the formats preferred by Argentines, 55.89% of the total sold corresponds to half-kilo packages; while the kilo is second, with 38.21% of the total.

Despite the low prices and long payment terms for raw materials, During the summer harvest there was a strong rebound in the entry of green leaves to the drying roomss. Between January and March, 80,847,651 kilos were processed; while in that same period of 2025 65,018,623 kilos had been harvested.

According to data released by the Institute, more than half of the raw materials left the farms in the month of March, when almost 45 million kilos were counted.

In the statistical report for the month of April, the impact of the road closures and the call for a harvest cessation by primary producers will be known, who demand that the activity be regulated again by the INYM.

Last month the herbalists carried out a new judicial attack against the decrees that took away the Institute’s powers to set reference prices every six months for green leaf and pistachio (dried grass, without grinding).

Through two presentations, the producers requested protection and the unconstitutionality of the herbal chapter of DNU 70/2023, as well as that of 812/2025, which removed more powers from the INYM.

The herbalists maintain that prices are managed by a handful of mills to the detriment of more than 13,000 small and medium-sized producers.

The Government of Misiones said that it is an oligopsony, that is, a market structure of imperfect competition characterized by the existence of few buyers compared to a large number of suppliers. And that is why it is necessary for the Institute to set the reference values.