CHICAGO (Reuters) — Private analytics firm Informa Economics raised its estimate of Brazil’s 2013-14 corn harvest to 68 million tonnes, from 65.45 million previously, citing increased plantings of winter corn, the firm said in a note to clients on Thursday.
Informa also raised its forecast of Argentina’s 2013-14 corn crop to 23.0 million tonnes, from 22.6 million previously.
For soybeans, Informa lowered its estimate of Brazil’s 2013-14 soybean harvest to 86.75 million tonnes, from 88.8 million last month.
The firm raised its estimate of Argentina’s 2013-14 soy crop to 54.5 million tonnes, from 54.0 million previously.
Read Also
Feed Grains Weekly: Price likely to keep stepping back
As the harvest in southern Alberta presses on, a broker said that is one of the factors pulling feed prices lower in the region. Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers in Lethbridge, added that lower cattle numbers in feedlots, plentiful amounts of grass for cattle to graze and a lacklustre export market also weighed on feed prices.
Looking ahead to the 2014-15 marketing year, Informa raised its forecast of corn production in Ukraine to 26.0 million tonnes, up three million from previous forecast, and raised its corn area estimate for the country to 11.6 million acres, up 500,000 from its previous forecast.
However, Informa noted that the crop would be 4.9 million tonnes smaller than Ukraine’s 2013-14 corn harvest of 30.9 million tonnes.
In the United States, Informa projected 2014-15 winter wheat production at 1.616 billion bushels, up 82 million from 2013-14.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is scheduled to release its first forecast of U.S. winter wheat production on May 9.
