March 6, 2007

Brazil's Parana 2006/07 soy crop up 30 percent to 12 million tonnes

Brazil's no. 2 soy producing state, Parana, will harvest 12 million tonnes of soybeans in 2006/07, up 30 percent from the previous season, the state's secretary of agriculture said Monday (Mar 5).

Planted area rose one percent, as expected, to around 3.9 million hectares.

Good weather conditions throughout the entire season have helped Parana soy fields, compared with dry weather in 2005/06 that ruined much of the soy crop in west Parana.

High local commodity prices have soy growers currently rushing to plant a second corn crop, to be harvested in the winter. The summer corn crop was put at 8.6 million tonnes, up 13 percent on the year, while the winter corn crop is estimated to come in around 4.7 million tonnes, up 33 percent on the year. It is summer in the southern hemisphere. Parana is Brazil's leading corn producer.

Parana only trails Mato Grosso in soy output. Brazil is the world's no. 2 soy producer behind the US.