Brazil's main grain belt remains dry and there are no immediate forecasts for rain just nine days before farmers can legally start planting what is expected to be a record soyabean crop, a local weather forecaster said on Thursday. "The rains are delayed in the producing areas we could see some weak rains this month in Mato Grosso or Mato Grosso do Sul, but there is not yet a forecast for broader rainfall," said Olivia Nunes of Somar Meteorologia in Sao Paulo.
Delaying planting a little until rains return in the world's No 2 producer will not necessarily affect Brazil's overall 2012/2013 soyabean output, seen at 78.1 million tonnes by Minas Gerais-based analyst Celeres and 82.3-million-tonnes according to Safras e Mercado.
But it would result in a later harvest in a year in which good crops from Brazil and Argentina, which has had an unusually wet August, are needed to make up for drought-related US grains losses that pushed soyabean and corn prices to record highs. After two years of irregular rainfall during the La Nina climate phenomenon, warmer surface waters off the coast of Peru associated with El Nino raised hopes of steadier, more abundant showers for central Brazil starting in September.
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