February 13, 2006

Brazil to revise 2005/06 soy crop estimate due to dry weather

Brazil's National Commodities Supply Corp (Conab), will revise part of its 2005/06 soy crop estimate because dry weather in certain parts of Parana state have led to considerable crop reductions.

Conab, which is part of Brazil's Agriculture Ministry, will collect data for March 5-11 and will issue a revised estimate March 20.

On Monday, Feb 6, Conab estimated the 2005/06 Brazilian soy crop at 58.1 million tonnes, which was similar to its December estimate that ranged from 57.3 million to 58.5 million tonnes.

Last month, agronomists from Brazil's largest soy cooperative, Coama, warned that dry weather already had destroyed nearly a third of the crop on properties located in southwest Parana.

Otmar Hubner, an agronomist at Parana's Secretary of Agriculture, said on Friday, that state agriculture officials had reduced their soy crop estimate by 1.6 million tonnes to 10.1 million tonnes.

In the southwest, where some 394,000 hectares of soy are farmed, up to 31 percent of the crop has been destroyed due to dry weather in January, Hubner said.

Parana is Brazil's second biggest soy-producing state after Mato Grosso.

Private estimates from farm consulting group AgroConsult put the total Brazil 2005/06 soy crop at 55.3 million tonnes this month, down from 55.8 million tonnes it estimated in January.

AgroConsult analysts said they lowered their projections for 2006/07 because of regional dry spots in states such as Parana and Bahia.