April 11, 2007

Brazilian 2007 grain harvest seen to hit record
 

Grain harvest in Brazil is expected to reach 11.8 percent higher this year than in 2006 to reach an all-time record of 130.7 million tonnes, according to Brazil's Geographical and Statistics Institute or IBGE.

The Institute said the good harvest is the result of greater production of crops for manufacturing bio-fuels, such as soy, corn and sugar cane.

Agricultural production in 2007 is foreseen to exceed the harvest of previous years, including that of 2003 which hit 123.6 million tonnes, the biggest ever. Soy, which is also used to produce biodiesel, is seen to total at 56.9 million tonnes, a year-on-year rise of 8.6 percent.

Brazil exports soy beans to China and these are one of the country's main export products.