**5.1 Comercialization. Main characteristics**

Ninety five percent of the soybean harvest goes from farmers to country grain elevators (private or local cooperatives). The main final destiny is the crushing industry (oil and meal). The second destiny in importance are the exporters. The remaining activities have a small participation in the grain final destiny. Among these activities the animal feed producers and the grain purchase for own consumption (cattle producers) can be found.

The commercialization stages are divided according to the offerers, been primary operations when the seller of the goods is the producer; secondary operations when the goods are sold by any of the intermediary agents to exporters or to the industry, and finally, terciary operations which are those where exportation is involved.

In the primary stage, the "producers" are the ones who make up the supply : they can be land owners, tenants, contractors, pool producers, agricultural investments common funds, and the demand are usually country grian elevators, first grade cooperatives, livestock producers (poultry, pork, feed lot), exchange dealers31, industries and expoterers with vertical integration strategies.

The secondary stage is focused on country grain eleators, local cooperatives, inputs providers and exchange dealers as well as exporters, industrials and livestock producers.

Brokers and institutions like the Stock Exchange, Cereal Boards and Arbitration Chambers can also take part in any of these stages. They –boards and chambers- are Arbitration Courts in case there is any kind of controversy. They set reference prices and have grain analysis laboratories. In Argentina, there are four Cereal Boards: Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Bahía Blanca and Entre Ríos.

As regards the transaction steps, the most representative ones can be divided between those made with merchandise readily available or not. The most common payment ways when the goods delivery is effectively done can be: cash on delivery, cash with insured delivery quota, cash with uncertain delivery, cash on deposit certificates or a price to be fixed. When the goods are to be delivered in the future, the payment ways can be: advance payment, exchange (with other goods), and forward payments (with a contract).

In Argentina, there are also two exchange markets where Futures and Options contracts on soybean can be made: "Rosario Futures Exchange (Rofex)" and "*Mercado Término de Buenos Aires (MATBA)*" where soybean oil contracts can be found. Although the use of these instruments is growing; it is not widely spread yet, specially among the small producers. Besides, successive economic crisis and interventions in the agricultural markets have slowed down its development. It is important to point out that this alternative is use to secure prices rather than to deliver the goods. The use of these markets is around the 28% of the total average production in the last five years (2005-2009).

The operators that take part in grain commerce have been classified according to their function into 17 categories by the National Office of Agroindustrial Commerce and Control (ONCCA, 2006). The ones involved in soybean markets are: country grain eleators (2685), grain conditioners (62), industrials (58), industrial-selector (35), laboratory (25), public scales (21), Futures Market (3), consigner without facilities (2), broker (359), importer (27), exporter (356), exchange agent (665) and delivery agent (11).

<sup>31</sup> Exchange dealers receive soybean as a form of payment for goods in general and for leasing.

Different trading channels and modalities combined with the large number of operators makes it possible to trade soybean in a very extended way. But since it's not compulsory to register the operations modality, no statistics reflect in a reliable way which the most chosen channels are. Anyway, these modalities are in general incidental and depend on the market situation.
