August 7, 2007

Brazil new soy planting intentions seen up 4.5 percent

Brazil should increase its soy planted area by 5.4 percent to 21.9 million hectares, agribusiness consultancy Celeres said Monday (August 6).

The figure is on par with current market estimates for the 2007/08 crop wherein soy growers start planting in October.

In July, some estimates suggested that Brazil could increase planted area by as much as 10 percent because of high international soybean prices. But high farm debts have farmers investing less in soy expansion than earlier forecasts.

Brazil is the world's No. 2 soy producer and exporter behind the US.