October 30, 2007

Brazil 2007/08 soy crop sales reach 29 percent

Brazilian soy producers sold 29 percent of the 2007/08 crop that will be harvested in the first half of next year, up from 28 percent the week before, private analysts Celeres said on Monday (October 29).

As the Brazilian real trading in its strongest in more than than seven years against the dollar, this reduces the earnings from soy exports in local currency terms.

The current US soy harvest has shifted the world physical soy sales activity to the US ports in the Gulf of Mexico, and away from Brazil and Argentina, where planting is just getting started and will run through January-February.

For the past five years, Brazilian producers on average have sold 27 percent of the future soy crop by this time of year. Twenty percent of the new crop been sold forward a year ago, Celeres said.

Mato Grosso, Brazil's No. 1 soy producer state, has sold 42 percent of its new crop, which is up from the 31 percent sold forward this time last year, Celeres said. The centre-west state leads others in the soy belt in forward sales.

The No. 2 soy producer state, Parana, has sold 13 percent of its new crop, up from 11 percent last year. And No. 3 Rio Grande do Sul state has sold 13 percent, up from 10 percent in 2006 at this time.

Brazil's 2007/08 soy crop is seen at a record 63 million tonnes, Celeres said.

Current crop sales have reached 96 percent, unchanged from last week and up from the 95 percent sold at this time a year ago.

Celeres puts the 2006/07 (Oct/Sept) soy crop at a record nearly 59 million tonnes. Harvesting finished in May.