Farmers across South America are expected to produce more soyabeans in 2018/19, an industry analyst said on Wednesday, as they take advantage of a trade war that has curbed US exports to the world's top buyer China.
Producers in Brazil are investing more resources to increase the planted area in 2018/19 to a record 36.2 million hectares, Andre Debastiani, partner at Brazil Agroconsult told an industry conference in Guangzhou. Farmers will target production of 120 million tonnes, up from 119 million the year before, while Brazil's soyabean exports were estimated at 80.1 million tonnes in 2018/19, up from 78.5 million tonnes a year ago, he said.
"A good harvest in the southern hemisphere should guarantee the supply of soyabeans to China," he said. Beijing imposed 25 percent tariffs on a list of US products including soyabeans and grains on July 6, in response to similar measures levied on Chinese goods. This has curbed US soyabean exports to China.
Brazil's soya industry group Abiove last week raised its projection for the country's soyabean exports this year to 79 million tonnes from 77 million tonnes seen in October. The group also revised its estimate for the Brazilian 2017/18 crop to 120.5 million tonnes, from 119.5 million tonnes previously.
In Argentina, Debastiani said soyabean production was likely to rebound to 54 million tonnes in 2018/19, up from a drought-hit crop of 35 million tonnes a year ago.