Weeks of drought and heat have hit Brazil's soy and corn production, but the agriculture ministry still predicted a record 2014 harvest. Corn production is set to total 75.5 million metric tons, down from a January estimate of 79 million, state food supply agency Conab said in its monthly report.
The Argentine Central Bank, starved of dollars and declining international reserves started to trade new short-term dollar-denominate bonds in order to encourage the farm sector to sell the crops they are still holding on to. It is estimated that over 3bn dollars in mainly soybeans remain in the hands of farmers and cereal exporters.
Brazil's government food supply agency Conab forecast record soybean output of 90.03 million tons, near the top of its previous forecast of 87.9 million to 90.2 million tons, as farmers finish planting new fields.
Uruguay's soy beans coming crop will have increased 100.000 hectares, reaching between 1.3 and 1.35 million hectares, a new record according to the latest report from the National Seeds Institute, Inase. This compares with the 1.2 to 1.25 million hectares of the last crop.
Brazil's coming 2013/14 grains and oilseeds harvest has been estimated between 192.4 and 196.6 million tons with an increase in the range of 3% to 5.3% over the previous crop which reached 186.8 million tons.
Uruguay’s latest soybean crop was the highest in history, 2.76 million tons with an increase in the area planted and in yields according to the latest survey from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock. The area dedicated to soybean climbed 20% and reached 1.049.000 hectares.
Argentina’s 2013/14 soybean crop will be above 50 million tons while corn can be expected to reach 30 million tons, according to the country’s Agriculture minister Norberto Yauhar, based on preliminary production estimates. The minister also advanced that caps on wheat and corn exports could be lifted in the near future.
Brazil’s 2013/14 soybean crop that starts planting in September is expected to grow by 9% under normal weather conditions to a record 89.1 million tons, local crop analyst AgRural said in a release.
Argentina’s 2012/2013 grain and oilseed crop reached a record 105 million tons, announced President Cristina Fernandez underlining the excellent performance of the maize harvest and yields.
China approved three genetically modified soybean types for consumption, including the RR2BT seed resistant to the imidazolinonas and the glufosinat-ammonium herbicides. The announcement was made following a meeting between Agriculture ministers from Argentina and China in Beijing.