May 4, 2004

Argentina's 2003-04 Soybean Crop To Total 32.5 Million MT
 
Farmers in Argentina will produce 32.5 million metric tons of 2003-04 soybeans, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange said in its latest crop estimate.
 
This forecast is down from last week's estimate of 33.2 million tons.
 
The latest estimate is also less than the 35 million tons forecast by the U.S. Department of Agriculture last month.
 
If the exchange's estimate holds, it would put output down about 3 million tons from last year, when Argentina produced 35.27 million tons, according to the exchange.
 
This year's crop has suffered because of a lack of humidity thanks to a lengthy drought that crimped moisture levels in soybeans during crucial moments in the maturation process, the exchange said.
 
As a result, yields have diminished from a year ago.
 
The exchange estimated that the average yield this year will total 2.3 tons per hectare, down about 17% from 2.78 tons/hectare a year ago, according to the exchange.
 
As of Saturday, farmers had collected 58% or 8.356 million hectares of the soybean crop, the exchange said.
 
The pace of collection is down from a year ago at this time, when farmers had already harvested 60% 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.