February 15, 2005

 

 

Argentina's 2004-05 soy crop 98% planted by Friday

 

The pace of planting on Argentina's 2004-05 soybean crop remained unchanged on Friday for the fourth consecutive week, according to the latest Agriculture Secretariat data.

 

As of Friday, farmers had planted 98% of the crop. The pace is down from 99% a year earlier.

 

Planted area totals 14.2 million hectares, compared with 14.5 million a year earlier.

 

As of Friday, farmers had planted 13,890,020 million hectares.

 

In the provinces of Buenos Aires and Santa Fe the crop is developing normally thanks to a healthy amount of moisture, the Secretariat said. In Cordoba, however, the crop is suffering from a lack of water and needs fresh rain.

 

The Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange sees the 2004-05 area at 14.67 million hectares. As of Saturday, some 14,621,200 hectares have been planted, according to the exchange.

 

The Secretariat has forecast 2004-05 soybean production at between 31 million metric tons - worst case - and 39 million tons - best case. The probable outcome is production of about 35 million tons, according to the Secretariat.

 

The exchange estimates 2004-05 output at 37.7 million tons.

 

The US Department of Agriculture sees Argentina's 2004-05 soy output at 39 million tons.

 

Argentine soybeans are planted from October through January and harvested from March to July.

 

CORN

 

As of Friday, farmers had also planted 98% of the 2004-05 corn crop, Secretariat data show.

 

The planting pace has not changed in three weeks. It is down from 99% a year earlier.

 

The Secretariat expects farmers to plant 3.4 million hectares, up from 2.99 million a year ago.

 

As of Friday, they had planted 3,326,107 hectares.

 

In Buenos Aires, the crop is in "excellent" shape, the Secretariat said, noting that moisture levels are very healthy. It is also doing well in Santa Fe. However, the crop is not doing so well in Cordoba or in La Pampa because it has not received enough rain in either province.

 

The exchange said farmers had planted 99.9% of the crop as of Saturday. The exchange sees the area of exportable corn at 2.56 million hectares.

 

Argentina produced 13.1 million tons of corn in 2003-04, according to the exchange. The Secretariat has estimated output for this period at 13.5 million tons.

 

The USDA has forecast 2004-05 Argentine output at 17.5 million tons while the exchange has said output will total 18.6 million tons. The Secretariat sees output between 18 million and 19 million tons, depending on climatic conditions.