BRASILA: Brazilian crop agency Conab on Thursday raised its estimate for the 2017/18 domestic soybean crop and cut the forecast for corn production.
Conab said the soybean crop will total 111.56 million mt, compared with a forecast of 110.44 million mt in January, but below the record output posted in 2016/17 of 114.08 million mt, when the weather was nearly perfect in all the key producing regions.
The agency increased slightly both its estimates for the planted area for soybeans and for the yield compared with last month’s report.
Conab said the harvest in Mato Grosso, the largest grains producer in the country, is legging behind the pace seen last year. The work is completed in a little over 15% of the planted area in the state.
The rating of the beans harvested so far is positive, despite low moisture and lighter grains,” it said in the report. In Parana state, the second largest grains producer, the harvest will kick off in February in most regions, said Conab. The agency warned high precipitation levels are increasing the number of cases of fungal diseases in Parana, but added farmers have been successful in fighting back against the diseases. Conab also increased its projection for Brazilian soybean exports from the 2017/18 crop to 66 million mt, from 65 million mt in January. The figure remains below the 68.15 million mt of the 2016/17 crop exported. Brazil is the world’s largest soybeans exporter, ahead of the US and Argentina. CORN For the first time this season, Conab released an updated estimate for acreage in the winter corn crop, which is currently being planted, immediately after soybeans are harvested in many regions of the country.
Following its methodology, Conab had repeated the acreage figure from 2016/17 in the four previous rep Now the agency projects the planted area in the winter corn crop in 2017/18 will be 11.43 million hectares, down 5.6% from the previous season.
Mercedes-Benz sees Brazil truck sales up 18% in 2020
SAO BERNARDO DO CAMPO, Brazil: The Brazilian unit of German automaker Mercedes-Benz (DAIGn.DE) expects overall domestic truck sales to rise...