BUENOS AIRES: Argentina’s Rosario grains exchange raised its forecast for the country’s 2021/22 soy and corn harvests on Thursday, citing better-than-expected soy yields and an adjustment in its estimate for the corn planting area.
The exchange raised its soy harvest forecast to 41.2 million tonnes from its previous estimate of 40 million tonnes, and lifted its prediction for corn to 49.2 million tonnes from its previous estimate of 47.7 million tonnes.
Argentina is the world’s top exporter of processed soy oil and meal and the no. 2 exporter of corn. Both crops had been hit by drought early in the year which had led the main grains exchanges to sharply cut production forecasts.
“In the early soybeans batches, harvested yields are better than expected, outweighing cuts due to frost damage to second batch soybeans,” the exchange said in its monthly crop report, adding farmers have already threshed 27% of the planted area.
In the case of corn, the Rosario exchange hiked its estimate for the area planted with the grain to 8.42 million hectares, up from 7.96 million hectares previously, allowing a production forecast increase despite the negative impact of recent frosts.
The higher production outlook comes amid the busy harvest season with global grains prices soaring on supply worries linked to the war in Ukraine. Grains are Argentina’s main export and source of much-needed foreign currency.
The improved numbers are still well down from the Rosario exchange’s forecasts at the start of the 2021/22 season, when it predicted the soybean harvest at 45 million tonnes and the corn harvest at 56 million tonnes.
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