Brazil’s Conab sees record soy output and lower corn plantings as prices fall

Brazilian farmers will have a record soy output in the new season as they are sowing the oilseed over an larger area, the government’s crop agency Conab said on Tuesday in the first forecast report for the 2023/24 grain cycle.

Farmers in the South American food powerhouse, which have already began planting their new soy and first corn, are expected to produce 162 million metric tons of soybeans, 4.8% more than last year, Conab said.

Brazilian soy growers are expected to expand the planted area to 45.1 million hectares from 44 million hectares, a 2.5% rise from last season, according to Conab calculations.

The chart below shows soybean (whether or not in meal form) exports from Brazil between Jan 2019 and Aug 2023. The data is from DataLiner.

Soybean exports from Brazil | Jan 2019 – Aug 2023 | WTMT

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Brazilian farmers will reap an estimated 119.404 million tons of total corn, a 9.5% drop from last season, reflecting a smaller planted area and the initial effects of the El Niño weather pattern.

Conab said Brazil’s first and second corn planted area will be reduced by respectively 6.7% and 4.5% in the 2023/24 cycle as farmers are finding corn prices unattractive relative to soybeans.

The El Niño weather patter is already affecting Brazil’s corn outlook.

In Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil’s southernmost state, heavy rains have considerably delayed first corn planting, Conab said.

(Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by Steven Grattan)

Source: Nasdaq

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