Brazil crop agency ups corn output view, keeps exports unchanged

Farmers in Brazil, one of the world’s largest food producers, are expected to harvest 90 million metric tons of second corn in the present cycle, nearly two million tons more than forecast last month, crop agency Conab said on Thursday.

Farmers are still reaping their second corn, which is planted after soybeans are harvested in the same fields and is mainly exported in the second half.

Second corn will represent about 78% of total Brazilian corn output in the 2023/24 season, Conab data shows.

Despite the adjustment in projections, Conab said second corn and total corn production will be smaller this year than in the last, partly reflecting a drop in planted area.

For second corn, the area planted was nearly 6% smaller this season, when growers sowed 16.199 million hectares (40 million acres), the agency said.

“The results achieved [so far] show the disparity in climatic conditions,” Conab said referring to the harvesting work, noting in states including Mato Grosso, Para, Tocantins and in parts of Goias, rainfall levels were well distributed throughout the development stage, resulting in good yields.

However, yields were poorer in the northwest of Parana, Sao Paulo and in a large parts of the cultivated areas of Mato Grosso do Sul, as the climate did not favor these regions.

The harvest of Brazil’s second corn crop has continued to advance in all producing states and reached 48% of the sown area at the beginning of July, according to Conab.

If Conab’s estimates are confirmed, Brazil’s overall second corn production will be 12% smaller than in the 2022/23 crop year. Total corn production is likewise seen about 12% lower at 115.8 million tons.

Corn exports too will be significantly smaller at 33.5 million tons in this cycle, compared with 54.6 million tons in the previous year, Conab said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Ana Mano; editing by Jason Neely and David Evans)