Due to recent crop stress from heat and dryness commodity brokerage firm StoneX cut its estimate for Brazil’s soybean and corn crops. For soybeans, the firm cut its estimate 11 MMT to 134 MMT, which would be below last year’s record of 138 MMT. For corn, the crop was cut 2.5 MMT to 117.5 MMT.
“Production has been reduced by as much as a quarter in some southern regions, while northern regions have failed to achieve high yields, as expected,” StoneX said in a statement.
Traders will watch weather over the next couple months to see if rains improve in southern Brazil to avert further drought losses and if favorable conditions further north will compensate for any poor southern yields.
World Weather Inc. expects January weather to be about the same as December across Brazil, with southern areas trending drier than normal and plentiful rains continuing across northern areas. It expects safrinha corn crop planting prospects to remain favorable in Mato Grosso and areas south into Parana and Sao Paulo this year.
