November 25, 2009

Brazil soy crop planting at accelerated pace

Brazil's coming 2009-10 soy crop is being planted at an accelerated pace compared with a year earlier, consultant Celeres said in a report.

About 74 percent of area expected to be seeded in soy for the crop to be harvested between February and May of next year had been planted as of Friday, the report said. This compares with a figure of 67 percent for a year ago, Celeres said.

About 98 percent of the prior 2008-09 crop has been sold, little changed from a figure of 97 percent a year earlier, the consultants said.

The crop now being planted will result in a harvest of an estimated 64.67 million tonnes of soy compared with 58.16 million tonnes for the prior harvest, Celeres said in an accompanying table.