BUENOS AIRES: Argentina’s Rosario grains exchange on Wednesday issued an upbeat forecast for the South American country’s 2023/24 soyabean and corn harvests.

The exchange predicted a 48 million metric ton harvest of soyabeans, up from 20 million tons in the last season, while the corn harvest could stand at 56 million tons, up from 34 million tons expected for 2022/23.

The South American country is one of the world’s largest exporters of processed soyabeans as well as a major corn and wheat supplier. Argentine farmers will start planting soyabeans in October, and the Rosario exchange expects the planting area to surpass the previous season’s by 6.3% with some 17 million hectares.

The corn planting area, however, should remain the same size as that of the 2022/23 season due to higher farming costs and uncertainty around the availability of fertilizers, the exchange said.

Many farmers are nor in a position to invest in the more expensive corn crops, it added, as they look to recover from a devastating drought that hit Argentina’s agricultural heartlands last season. Corn planting is set to start in September.