November 14, 2007

Brazil to set new record grain harvest in 2008

Brazilian analyst Conab, in its second survey released last week said Brazil's grain harvest for 2007/08 is set for a record of 135.533 million tonnes, an advance of 2.9 percent from the volume obtained last year.

Total area planted is seen up by 1.2 percent from the current period, totalling 46,781 hectares. Soy the country's biggest grain -- should grow by 2.5 percent resulting in a production which is 1.7 percent greater. Corn should register an increase of 2.8 percent in planted area and 0.9 percent of volume produced.

Bean plantation should register a decline of 3.2 percent in the harvest as a whole, which should lead lower production by 2.5 percent in annual comparison. Only in the first harvest, the retraction of the area should be of 8.1 percent, with a volume produced of 6 percent lower. This situation is worrisome, since the prices of beans surge during out-of-season periods.

Conab however says these forecasts are only preliminary, and the evolution of the climate may affect significantly the result of the 2007/2008 harvest.