January 10, 2007

Brazil's 2006/07 summer corn crop seen up on-year at 34.9 million

Brazil's 2006/07 summer corn crop has been pegged at 34.9 million tonnes, up 11 percent from the 31.4 million tonnes in the previous season, said the country's Census Bureau, or IBGE, on Tuesday (Jan 9).

While planted area for the crop will shrink this season to 9.3 million hectares, down 3.3 percent from the 2005/06 harvest year, average productivity is now seen at 3,749 kilogrammes per hectare, up 10.7 percent from the 3,386 kg in the year-ago period, said IBGE.

In the country's three main corn-producing southern states, a total of 17 million tonnes of corn will be harvested, up from 15.1 million tonnes in the 2005/06 season.

Top producing state Parana will ramp up production by 5.7 percent from the year-ago period, while key producers Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul will also boost output by 25 percent and 15.5 percent respectively, said IBGE.

Brazil harvests its main summer corn crop starting in February, and its much smaller winter crop in August and September.

IBGE's figures continue to be higher than those by the government-linked National Commodities Supply Corp, or Conab, which in December pegged the country's summer corn crop at 33.6 million tonnes, up 5.7 percent from the estimated 31.8 million tonnes harvested in 2005/06.

Conab has put Brazil's planted area for its 2006/07 summer corn crop at 9.47 million hectares, with average productivity seen at 3,552 kg per hectare.