São Paulo – Soy has already started being harvested in the major producing states of Brazil and the crop should grow by 2.3%, enabling greater exports. A survey conducted by the National Food Supply Company (Conab) indicates that 70.3 million tonnes should be harvested in Brazil this year. The export volume of soy chaff, grain and oil should increase by a rate similar to the crop’s, according to the executive secretary Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries (Abiove), Fabio Trigueirinho. The institution’s estimate is 3.4%.
In turn, revenues from exports of soy oil, grain and chaff should rise from US$ 17.2 billion in the last crop to US$ 21.8 billion in the current one, an increase of 26.7%, according to the Abiove, driven mainly by high prices on the international market. The institution is also preparing an upward revision of grain exports, according to Trigueirinho, and that should raise the revenue forecast for oil, grain and chaff.
Trigueirinho also believes that the commodity’s prices should remain high until at least January next year, with nothing but slight variations upward or downward. He points out that the Brazilian and Argentinean crops are already virtually set, but that the United States are yet to plant theirs, around May and June. The harvest in the United States takes place around September. These three countries are the top soy producers worldwide, and their performance weighs significantly on the commodity’s prices.
Trigueirinho believes that roughly 50% of the Brazilian crop has already been sold. The harvest in the state of Mato Grosso began in January, but is starting in states such as Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul, which are major producers alongside Mato Grosso. According to the crop survey and assessment manager at the Conab, Carlos Bestetti, Mato Grosso is usually the state that makes the most early sales, of green soy. According to him, soy harvested in the state has started being shipped to destinations such as the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Norway.
In Brazil, the planted area for soy has increased by 2.4%, up to 24 million hectares, according to a survey disclosed this Thursday (10th) by the Conab. According to the manager at Conab, the increase in planted area was prompted by the high price of the commodity and the fact that in 2009, even at the time of harvest, the price did not drop. According to him, growers planted more, assuming that it would happen again in 2011. Soy is an easy-selling product, because it is a commodity, and that also drives growers to invest more in the culture.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
