Forecast for Brazil 2009-10 soy crop remains unchanged

The Brazilian Vegetable Oils Industry Association, or Abiove, maintained its forecast for the 2009-10 soy crop at 65.2 million tonnes on Wednesday (Feb 10), but lowered its expectations for soymeal exports slightly.

The new 2009-10 crop is just starting to be harvested in states such as Mato Grosso and Goias.

Abiove also maintained its data for exports of 27.1 million tonnes and the year's soy crush was kept at 32.2 million tonnes.

The only data that changed, in fact, were for soymeal exports. Abiove expects soymeal exports to total 12.3 million tonnes, down from 12.7 million tonnes in the January 22 estimate. Internal demand for soymeal remains at 11.9 million tonnes.

Soyoil exports are expected to be 1.1 million tonnes, with internal demand unchanged at 5.05 million tonnes.

Brazil is mostly known as a raw-material exporter and generally ships out soy instead of the processed derivatives, soymeal and soyoil.