Brazil's new soyabean crop, which is nearly finished planting, is seen at a record 63.6 million tonnes, up from the 49.9 million harvested last season, private analysts Safaris e Merced said on Friday. Safaris said its latest forecast is up from the 63.2 million tonne seen in October because the latest data on planted area of 22.65 million hectares turned out 0.8 percent greater than previously expected.
But high production costs and weak international soya prices were keeping output from growing further and still well under the 66.6 million tonnes forecast by Safaris in July.
In its latest crop report, Safaris said that 96 percent of the soyabean area in Brazil had been planted by December 10, on par with the average of the past five years but slightly behind the 2003/04 crop, which was 98 percent seeded by this week.
Producers had planted 90 percent of the area by December 3. Weather during the October-December planting season has favoured the main producing areas and should allow young plants to establish good root systems and leafy canopies over the top soil, which will help to weather dry spells in the future.
Safaris said average crop yields were seen at 2.8 tonnes per hectare (2.471 acres), well improved from the average 2.3-tonne yields registered by last season's drought- and disease-ridden crop.