Brazil soy exporters keen to sell as prices remain high

Brazilian soy exporters are eager to sell their beans, meal and oil while prices for soy hover above the historic average, Brazil's foreign trade association (AEB) said Thursday (Apr 2).

AEB vice president Jose Augusto de Castro said soy has almost doubled in quantities sold, unlike last year, as companies are looking to bring shipments forward to benefit from prices and also the exchange rate.

The dollar, in which soy futures are traded, bought BRL2.31 at the end of March, but only BRL1.75 by the same time a year ago, raising prices paid to local growers.

Castro said that prices were well above historic average levels even though they had fallen from the higher level they reached this time last year when commodities prices were booming.

He said stronger demand from China, the world's largest importer, had helped to raise the pace of sales.

Soy is Brazil's single most important agricultural export and it is the world's second-largest exporter of the grain, after the US.

US$1 = BRL2.21 (Apr 6)