June 17, 2011

Argentina trims soy forecast, raises corn outlook

Argentina has raised its corn forecast and slightly trimmed its soy forecast in its monthly crop report on Thursday (Jun 16), as the harvests near completion and the amount of final output becomes clearer.

Final production from the 2010-11 corn crop was raised to 21.6 million tonnes, up from 20.9 million tonnes forecast by the agriculture ministry a month earlier. Argentina is the world's second-largest corn exporter after the US.

About 84% of the corn crop has been harvested so far. The ministry trimmed its forecast for soy production to 49.6 million tonnes, down from 50.4 million tonnes.

Argentina leads soy and soyoil exports and ranks third globally for soy exports. So far, about 97% of the soy crop has been harvested.

Meanwhile, winter wheat planting is in full swing and the ministry trimmed its forecast for fields planted with the cereal to 4.7 million hectares from five million.

Argentina is a leading global wheat exporter, with the bulk of shipments going to neighboring Brazil.