Argentina and Brazil are both likely to achieve much larger soyabean crops in early 2010 than their drought-reduced 2009 harvests, Hamburg-based oilseeds analysts Oil World forecast on Tuesday. Argentina's 2009/10 soyabean crop for harvesting in early 2010 will rise to 52.0 million tonnes from 32.20 million tonnes harvested in early 2009, Oil World estimates.
Brazil's 2009/10 crop harvested in early 2010 is forecast to reach 62.0 million tonnes from 57.6 million tonnes in 2009. Argentina's 2009 crop had been sharply reduced by drought from 46.2 million tonnes in 2008. Poor weather also cut Brazil's 2009 crop from 60.02 in 2008.
But Argentine weather was currently better for soyabeans and weather forecasts for September and October were more favourable, it said. Argentine farmers had also cut grain plantings because of this year's drought and were now likely to turn to soyabeans. "We consider it likely that (Argentine) soyabeans plantings will be boosted to 19.1 to 19.5 million hectares compared with 17.5 million hectares planted last year," it said.
In Brazil, soyabean cultivation conditions were also generally better than last year, Oil World said. It expected Brazilian farmers to increase soyabean plantings by about 500,000 hectares on the year for harvesting in early 2010.