October 17, 2007

Argentina begins planting biggest soy crop

Argentina began planting last week the 2007/08 soy crop, which is expected to be the biggest ever, the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange said in its latest weekly report.

The grain exchange estimates Argentina will plant 16.8 million hectares of soy in the season that has just begun, up from 16.1 million hectares in the previous cycle.

Argentina is the world's third-biggest soy exporter and is the biggest soymeal and soyoil provider. The 2006/07 soy harvest yielded a record 47.5 million tonnes of the oilseed, according to the grain exchange.

The report said the "2007/08 soy planting campaign began in isolated areas in Santa Fe, Buenos Aires and Entre Rios provinces and was conditioned by the recent rains." The states are the second, third and fourth biggest soy-producing areas in the country.

Soy planting will expand the most in areas with lower yields: in northern Argentina and in the Salado river basin in the centre-east area of Buenos Aires province, where soy planting area is seen growing by 17.3 percent.

In northern Argentina, soy is replacing sunflower and cotton crops, while in the Salado basin it is replacing beef-grazing, according to the exchange.

The US Department of Agriculture, or USDA, has forecast Argentina's 2007/08 soy production at 47 million tonnes.