SAO PAULO: Agribusiness consultancy StoneX on Thursday cut its estimate for Brazil’s record soybean crop in 2023/24 due to lack of rain in key farmlands, now forecasting 152.8 million metric ton harvest compared to 161.9 million tons previously estimated.

The cut means StoneX no longer forecasts a record crop in Brazil, the world’s largest producer and exporter of soybeans, as output this season would come in below the 157.7 million tons reaped in 2022/23. StoneX analysts said in a report that last month showers continued to be irregular in most of Brazil’s soybean fields, including top grain producing state Mato Grosso, where output is set to fall more than 14% when compared to the previous season.

They said the weather would continue to play a key role in coming months, as some states tend to plant soybean later than others and there were also some delays in sowing.