Brazil crop analysts Celeres raised their forecast for this year's new soybean crop on Monday by 1.8 percent to what would be a record 69.1 million tonnes, citing adjustments to the size of the planted area. This is Celeres' third forecast of the new crop that producers are just beginning to plant.
If it meets the latest forecast, the new crop would be almost 1 percent greater than last year's harvest of 68.5 million tonnes. The planted area is expected to grow by 1.2 percent from last season to 23.6 million hectares. Productivity is forecast to edge down to 2.926 tonnes per hectare from 2.936 tns/ha last season, which had near-perfect rainfall over much of the crop.