April 27, 2004

Argentina's 2003-04 Soy Crop 40% Collected

As of Friday, Argentina's farmers had collected 40% of the 2003-04 soybean crop, the latest Agriculture Secretariat data show. This puts the pace of collection up from 32% last week but down from 60% a year ago.
 
Last year at this time, planted stood at 12.6 million hectares, well below the 14.235 million hectares estimated for this year.
 
The Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange has estimated collectable area at 14.34 million hectares.
 
As of Friday, farmers had harvested 5,665,600 hectares of soybeans, according to the Secretariat. Some 234,305 hectares are considered too damaged to collect.
 
According to the exchange, whose data includes crop collection through Saturday, farmers have harvested 39.9% of the 2003-04 crop.
 
The average yield last week, according to the exchange, was 2.43 metric tons per hectare, down from 2.93 tons a year ago at this time.
 
Yields are down because of a long drought that dried soil in many areas earlier this year and deprived the crop adequate moisture.
 
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates 2003-04 soybean production at 35 million tons while the exchange puts it at 33.2 million tons.
 
Last year, Argentina produced 34.8 million tons of soybeans, according to the Secretariat.