SAO PAULO, March 30 (Reuters) – Brazil’s 2016-17 soybean crop forecast was raised to a record 113.3 million tonnes on Thursday compared to 111 million tonnes seen earlier in March, after independent consultancy Agroconsult finished a crop tour through main producing areas.
Agroconsult said most Brazilian states reported record average soybean yields in the fields, favoured by near-perfect weather. It projected Brazilian soybean exports in 2017 at 61.4 million tonnes compared with 61 million tonnes seen earlier in March.
“This crop brings a baseline change in terms of technology and yields… Brazil is moving towards 60 bags of soy per hectare from around 50 bags previously,” Agroconsult’s chief analyst, Andre Pessoa, told a news conference to present data from the crop tour.
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A bag of soybeans is 60 kilograms, so 60 bags per hectare would work out to 53.5 bushels an acre.
Pessoa said the states of Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás and Minas Gerais, in Brazil’s central area, were the highlights this year all registering record yields.
Farmers in those states were able to plant ahead of time in the current crop due to timely, widespread rains. With that, they could also harvest earlier.
Pessoa said shipping data indicates the country will export 9.5 million tonnes of soybeans in March from 6.1 million tonnes in February, as volumes at ports continue to grow amid harvest progress, which is ahead of time.
Agroconsult’s soy projection is 17.6 percent above last year’s output of 96.3 million tonnes.
The consultancy projected Brazil’s total grains crop in 2016-17 at 236 million tonnes versus 189 million tonnes last year.
It said storage might be a problem when the second corn crop hits the warehouses around June.
Brazil’s 2016-17 total corn crop was seen at 95 million tonnes, unchanged from the previous estimate earlier in March.
