April 20, 2004

Argentina's 2003-04 Soybean Crop To Total 33.7 Million MT
 
Farmers in Argentina will produce 33.7 million metric tons of soybeans during the 2003-04 campaign, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange said in its latest crop estimate.
 
This forecast is down substantially from the exchange's last estimate of 34.5 million tons. It is also down from the 35 million tons forecast by the U.S. Department of Agriculture earlier this month.
 
If the exchange's estimate holds, it would put production down from last year, when Argentina produced 35.27 million tons, according to the exchange.
 
Moreover, the exchange said that even its most recent estimate could be overly optimistic.
 
"This estimate could tend to decline given that the harvest has been delayed measurably and that collection efforts will be delayed a few days more," the exchange said.
 
Prospects for higher 2003-04 soybean production to worsen earlier this year as farmers suffered from an extended drought in the country's primary soybean producing regions.
 
The drought sapped humidity from the soil and hindered the crop's capacity to grow, pushing yields down from the previous year.
 
As of Saturday, farmers had collected 34% of the soybean crop, according to the exchange. Collection was slowed down dramatically last week by rainstorms.
 
The pace of collection is down markedly from a year ago at this time, when farmers had already harvested 52.2% of the crop. However, last year's crop measured 12.8 million hectares of planted soybeans while this year's planted area stands at 14.4 million hectares, according to the exchange.
 
As of Saturday, farmers had harvested 4.876 million hectares of soybeans.
 
The average yield last week was 2.48 tons per hectare, down from 2.99 tons a year ago at this time.
 
As of Saturday, farmers had harvested 12.11 million tons of soybeans, the exchange said.