SAO PAULO: Two agribusiness consultancies on Friday lowered Brazil’s soybean crop estimates citing dry and hot weather in major growing states like Mato Grosso.

National soybean production in 2023/24 is expected to total 149.076 million metric tons, a 5.5% drop over the previous season’s harvest, which stood at 157.83 million tons, according to a fresh a estimate by Safras & Mercado.

Last month, the projection was for production of 151.36 million tons, but adverse weather conditions spoiled the crop’s prospects, according to Safras data.

Cogo, another agribusiness consultancy, also reduced the projection for the season’s soybean harvest to 148.5 million tons on Friday. That compares to 155.2 million of Cogo’s previous forecast and is 9.1% below the initial estimate of 163.4 million tons, when the country seemed poised to produce a record harvest driven by strong yields and area expansions.

“Good yields in the South and Southeast regions should compensate part of the losses expected for the Center-West, North and MATOPIBA regions,” Cogo said.

If rains do return to Rio Grande do Sul next week, as expected, the state should produce a record soybean crop this year, Cogo said.