Brazil's 2016/17 corn crop should reach a record 89.6 million tonnes as analysts raised expected yields due to favourable weather, according to a Reuters poll. Production was seen increasing 34.7 percent compared with the 2015/16 crop, which was negatively affected by excessive dry weather, according to the poll of 18 analysts.
But analysts said there was a long way ahead, particularly because Brazil produces most of its corn crop during the Southern Hemisphere winter, and planting has to be done in an optimal window to avoid risks related to lack of humidity and frosts in the later stages of development.
There are some reports, for example, of delays in planting of the second corn crop in large producing states such as Mato Grosso and Paran?.
In Mato Grosso, excessive rains in some regions are keeping seeding machines away from the fields. In Parana, a cooler-than-expected climate during most of the summer extended the cycle of soybeans, delaying harvest of the summer crop as well as the planting of winter corn.
"As delays in the soybean harvest mount, it will also impact corn planting," Ginaldo de Souza, a director at Curitiba-based Labhoro brokers, said.
Brazil should harvest 29.7 million tonnes of corn in the first crop (summer) and 60.7 million tonnes in the second crop (winter), according to the poll.