February 6, 2023

Advance sales of Brazil's soybean crop lags as farmers hoard beans

Data from Safras & Mercado showed advance sales of Brazil's 2022/2023 soybean crop have slightly increased from last month, but are still significantly behind last year's and historical levels, Nasdaq reported.

The agribusiness consultancy said forward sales of Brazil's soy crop, which farmers are still harvesting, have reached 30.5% of the season's estimated production of 46.72 million tonnes.

The forecast is based on a 153.3 million-tonne output this year, a record for Brazil, the world's largest soybean supplier.

Brazil's slow soybean harvest and farmers' hopes for higher prices for their beans are hurting forward sales.

Brazilian farmers tend to hoard grain in the face of market volatility, according to analysts last month. This threatens to affect the value of Brazilian assets, including the country's real currency.

Safras & Mercado also said early sales of Brazil's soy represented 44.1% of the crop in the same period last year, while the five-year historical average is 44.8%.

-      Nasdaq