Bumper harvests lead to record outputs in global soy production

Global soy production is expected to increase nearly 19 percent this year due to record outputs in the US, Argentina and Brazil.

The US boosted its forecast for 2009-10 world soy production by more than four million tonnes, citing improved crop forecasts for the three American countries.

As such, the US soy harvest is now expected to set new records for production and yield, after discovering higher pod counts in major producing states.

In addition, Argentina and Brazil's crop forecasts were raised with expectations on higher plantings.

The US forecast for total global oilseed production was up 3.6 million tonnes to 428.9 million tonnes. As a result, the revision in estimates could indicate a decline in prices.

Soy for January was 13-cents lower at US$9.59 per bushel based on early deals in Chicago.

Some analysts were surprised at the 500,000-tonne upgrade in the US forecast for Argentina's soy production, given persisting dry conditions in some major growing areas there.

Meteorlogix Weather expects mostly dry conditions the next five to seven days in the main grain areas, said Vic Lespinasse, at GrainAnalyst.com.

The analysts at Hamburg-based Oil World on Tuesday (Nov 10) slashed Argentina's soy production by two million tonnes to 50 million tonnes amid drought concerns. Crop losses could be worse if weather conditions fail to improve over the next three to six weeks, said Oil World.