October 11, 2004

Brazil 2004-05 Soy Crop Only 1% Planted On Lack Of Rain

Brazilian farmers have planted just 1% of their potentially record 2004-05 (October-September) soybean crop due to a lack of rain in the center-west region, local agricultural consultancy Celeres said Monday.
 
At the same point last year farmers had planted 3% of their crop.
 
Isolated rainfall in Mato Grosso, the main producing state and also the first to plant, were insufficient to sustain soy planting, said a weekly report.
 
However, weather forecasts indicate heavier rains in these areas over the next week, it added.
 
Celeres estimates Brazilian soybean output at 64.2 million metric tons, some 26% higher than last season as yields return to normal.
 
Farmers in Mato Grosso plant in early October to allow time for a second corn or cotton crop. This practice also occurs in the states of Mato Grosso do Sul, Goias, Parana and Rio Grande do Sul, although weather conditions have not allowed planting there this year.
 
The Brazilian soybean season typically picks up pace in the second half of October.
 
Sales of Brazil's 2003-04 crop moved forward two percentage points last week and now encompass 80% of the crop. But sales remain well behind last year, when 89% was sold and a five-year average of 98% sold.
 
Producers were forced to sell with many harvest costs coming due on Oct. 15, said the report.
 
The forward soybean sales market was extremely quiet this week. Only 9% of the 2004-05 harvest has been sold, compared with 41% at the same stage last year.
 
With sales of this year's and next year's crop so far behind schedule, farmers are worried how they will finance the next season, said Celeres soy analyst Anderson Galvao Gomes.
 
Brazil is the world's No. 2 producer and exporter of soybeans.