Conab slashes its Brazilian corn crop and export forecasts
Conab lowered its Brazilian corn crop projection from 93.39 MMT in July to 86.65 MMT, which would be 15.5% retreat from the 2019-20 crop of 102.59 MMT. Drought and multiple rounds of frost badly damaged the country's main safrinha corn crop. The statistics agency expects Brazil to export 23.5 MMT of corn in 2020-21, roughly a 6-MMT drop from its July forecast. It still expects Brazil to import 2.3 MMT of the grain.
Brazil’s soybean crop will likely total 135.98 MMT, according to Conab, which is up slightly from its July forecast of 135.91 MMT and an 8.9% increase from last season’s 124.85 MMT crop. Conab expects Brazil to export 83.42 MMT of soybeans in 2021, which is a substantial 3.27 MMT decline from its forecast last month. The stats agency warned that figure could slide further if shipments don’t pick up in the months ahead.
Conab estimates Brazil’s wheat crop will total 8.59 MMT, up 111,000 MT from its forecast last month and a solid jump from last season’s 6.24 MMT crop.
Cotton production will likely total 2.34 MMT for Brazil in 2020-21, a marginal increase from its July forecast but a 22.0% drop from last season’s 3.00 MMT crop.
