January 12, 2007

 

Brazil's 2006/07 soy crop seen at 54.9 million tonnes

 

 

Brazil's 2006/07 soy crop is expected to be a record breaking 54.9 million tonnes, the National Commodities Supply Corp, or Conab, said Thursday (Jan 11).

 

The crop is 2.7 percent greater than the 2005/06 crop of 53.4 million tonnes. The new estimate is greater than the 54.7 million tonnes Conab published in December.

 

Credit problems early in the planting season led farmers to reduce planted area to 20.7 million hectares, or 1.6 million hectares less than the 2005/06 crop. However, productivity is expected to improve thanks to good weather conditions all season. National yields were put at 2,655 kilogrammes per hectare, or roughly 44 60-kg bags per hectare. The 2005/06 season saw yields closer to 2,403 kg per hectare, or 40 bags per hectare.

 

 

Planted area

 

Soy planted area in the Amazon regions of the north, mainly in states like Roraima, Rondonia, Amazonas, Para and Tocantins reduced by 4 percent with the greatest reduction in Rondonia, just north of Mato Grosso, Brazil's leading soy producing state. Rondonia reduced soy planted area by 11 percent to 94,700 hectares.

 

The semi-arid north-east also reduced soy planted area in 2006/07 by 1.2 percent, for a total of 1.4 million hectares.

 

Brazil's soy belt remains fixed in the centre-west and south. The centre-west reduced soy planted area by 13 percent, with the greatest reductions taking place in Mato Grosso. Mato Grosso should plant 5 million hectares, some 15 percent less than the previous year.

 

The south-eastern states of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais reduced soy fields by similar numbers, with Sao Paulo cutting 20 percent out of its soy fields, for a total 525,000 hectares, and Minas Gerais taking 12 percent to finish the planting season with roughly 930,000 hectares.

 

The southern states saw a slight increase of 1.2 percent, or 8.2 million hectares total, with an 11 percent increase in Santa Catarina, a small producer state. Southern production has helped Brazil make this a record-breaking year.

 

 

Production

 

The southern states should produce a total of 20.3 million tonnes compared to 17.7 million tonnes in the 2005/06 crop. The no. 2 producing state, Parana, will lead the charge producing 11.6 million tonnes compared with 9.4 million in 2005/06, followed by the no. 3 producer, Rio Grande do Sul, with an estimated 7.8 million tonnes compared with 7.5 million tonnes in 2005/06.

 

Mato Grosso production should total 14.6 million tonnes, down 8 percent from the 15.9 million tonnes in 2005/06.

 

Brazil is the world's no. 2 soy producer and exporter behind the US.