February 27, 2007

Corn production remain high in Argentina despite rains

Corn output remain high in Argentina's 2006-2007 harvest after rains last week slowed initial gathering in corn-growing regions, the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange said.

The exchange estimates 2006-2007 corn production at a record 22 million tonnes in Argentina, the world's second-biggest corn exporter after the United States.

Farmers have harvested 2 percent of the estimated 2.815 million hectares seeded with commercial-use corn, up 0.5 percentage points from last week but 2.1 points behind last year's pace.

Current yields stand at 6.9 tonnes per hectare, the grain exchange said in its latest weekly crop progress report, updated late on Friday.

The report noted yields in early harvest are 30.7 percent higher than last season which indicates the excellent productivity of the current season.

Harvesting is likely to advance slowly this week as more precipitation is expected, the exchange added.

The Argentine government forecasts this season's corn output at between 21 million and 22 million tonnes, while the U.S. Department of Agriculture has forecast Argentina's harvest at 21 million tonnes.