February 17, 2004

Brazil Soybean 5% Harvested

Farmers have gathered 5% of Brazil's potentially record soybean 2003-04 harvest through Friday, on a par with the same stage of the last harvest, said the local Celeres agricultural consultancy Monday.

The harvest progressed slowly over the last week. The previous Friday, some 3% of the estimated 59.6 million metric ton crop had been harvested.
 

Heavy rains in parts of Mato Grosso, the main soy producing state, continue to hamper harvesting efforts. The state normally harvests well ahead of southern states, but excess moisture prevented the combine harvesters from getting into the fields and collection only moved forward two percentage points to 10% last week.
 

However, crop development remained slightly ahead of schedule, with 100% having already reached or passed the key flowering phase.
 

Some 70% of the crop had reached the pod-filling state, and 15% of the crop is in the maturation phase.
 

Celeres said concerns continued over the state of the crop in the center- west state of Mato Grosso do Sul and the southern state of Parana because of dry conditions.
 

With farmers unsure of the size of the Brazilian crop, the local soy market remained slow last week. As of Friday, 46% of the crop had been sold against 40% at the same point last year and a five-year average of 41%.