Argentina's 2010/11 wheat output is seen at between 11.3 million and 12 million tonnes, up from the 11.3 million tonnes estimated previously, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said on Thursday. Argentina is one of the world's leading suppliers of wheat and attention is focused on its 2010/11 crop due to an export freeze in Russia, the No 3 global supplier of the grain.
Plenty of rain in the past few weeks in wheat-growing areas has had a positive effect on the crop, the exchange said in its weekly report. "With some additional rain during the rest of the month and if there are no frosts in the southern wheat-growing region ... it's possible that production could exceed 12 million tonnes," the exchange said, adding that the floor for output would be 11.3 million tonnes.
However, the exchange warned that excess humidity could make wheat plantations vulnerable to fungal diseases such as the Asian rust. Farmers recently started harvesting wheat in some regions, said the exchange, which estimates the area planted with the cereal this season at 4.27 million hectares. The country's farmers produced 7.9 million tonnes of wheat in the 2009/10 season, the smallest crop in 30 years, due to a harsh drought. The US Agriculture Department (USDA) estimates Argentina's 2010/11 wheat production at 12 million tonnes.
The exchange held its estimate for 2010/11 soybean area at 18.7 million hectares and also kept its outlook for this season's commercial-use corn area at 3.0 million hectares. By Thursday farmers had planted 53 percent of the area earmarked for corn, up 12.7 percent from the previous week, the report said.
Argentina is the No 3 global exporter of soybeans and the top supplier of soymeal and soyoil. Planting for the 2010/11 soy season has just started in the South American country. "Rains forecast for the next few days favor ... the central belt of the farming area, guaranteeing ideal conditions for the start of the (soy planting) season," the report said. The USDA sees Argentina's soy output this season at 50 million tones.