Brazil soya area seen falling 6.7 percent

Brazil's 2006/07 soyabean planting, which starts in September, will fall by 1.5 million hectares, or 6.7 percent, from the current crop area of 22.28 million hectares due to the crisis in the sector, analyst Celeres said on Tuesday.
"For 2006/07, we should have a contraction of 1.5 million hectares from the present area, possibly even greater...," Celeres analyst Anderson Galvao said during a seminar at the 4th Brazilian Soya Congress in Parana state.
Brazilian soyabean producers are facing their worst crisis in decades, with a weak dollar, rising production costs and bumper crops in the United States and Argentina. Galvao said planted area should fall as a result to at least 20.8 million hectares next season.
The crisis affecting the grains sector was largely responsible for the fall in planting from the previous season. Celeres said the current crop area of 22.28 million hectares is down from last season's 23.48 million.