OREANDA-NEWS. December 16, 2015.  Argentina new government plans to eliminate export taxes on most agricultural goods, the first step in a plan aimed at increasing production and mending relations with the influential farming sector.

The export duty on soybeans, the country's main cash crop, will be cut by five percentage points to 30pc.

Although not specifically mentioned, the duty on soybean oil, the main raw material used in the country's export-oriented biodiesel industry, is also expected to decline by 5pc points to 27pc.

"For the rest it will be zero percent, including wheat, corn, sorghum, fish and beef," agriculture minister Ricardo Buryaile said.

New president Mauricio Macri pledged to issue a decree implementing the duty cuts, fulfilling a campaign promise.

The decree is also likely to eliminate quotas for corn and wheat exports.

"We can double Argentina's food production," Macri said today.

Throughout the campaign, Macri said he would improve relations with the farming sector after years of conflict under former president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

Macri was sworn into office on 10 December.

Small and medium-sized biodiesel plants, responsible for the bulk of the country's domestic market, have slowed or suspended production in recent weeks amid a shortage of soybean oil spawned by expectations that Macri would slash export duties.

Biodiesel exports plunged by 54pc in the January-September period to 496,955 t, compared to 1.1mn t in the first nine months of last year. Sales of biodiesel abroad have fallen throughout the year as the sector struggles with lower oil prices and the 2013 closure of the European market.