Brazil Lifts Soybean Forecast, Surpassing U.S.
9 January 2014 Brazil’s Minister of Agriculture Antonio Andrade said on Jan. 9 that soy production could reach even higher levels than current projections, which peg the crop at about 90 million tonnes for the 2013/14 harvest.
“The performance of soybeans for this crop should be even better than the current forecasts, reaching 95 million. This result is due to increased productivity and makes Brazil the largest producer of grain in the world, surpassing the U.S.,” Andrade said.
Conab, the country’s crop bureau, raised its soybean forecast to 90.3 million tonnes for the current crop, a 10.8% increase. Rice production climbed 5.1%, reaching 12.4 million tons. Brazil’s grain production is expected to total 196.7 million tonnes, up 5.2% from the previous harvest of 186.9 million tons.
Corn, the second-largest crop produced in Brazil, declined 5.9%, as growers were discouraged by lower prices and planted soybeans instead, according to Conab.
With respect to area, soybeans expanded more than any other crop at 6.6%, from 27.7 to 29.6 million hectares. Rice, beans and cotton area also increased, while first-crop corn area contracted 4.7%, from 6.8 to 6.5 million hectares.
“Our production increases every year. This is because Brazil has made great technologies in the field, and we work daily with the producers who go to great lengths to put our production as one of the largest in the world,” Andrade said.
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