Citing better-than-expected yields, the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange raised its Argentine wheat production estimate to a record 21.5 MMT, up 500,000 MT from its prior forecast.
As more of the crop is harvested, yields have increased, the exchange said. Currently, 78.3% of wheat is harvested with a national average yield of 3.28 MT per hectare. The wheat harvest is expected to be done by the end of January.
The exchanges forecasts for Argentina’s corn and soybean production at 57 MMT and 44 MMT, respectively, were unchanged. German Heinzenknecht, a meteorologist at consultancy Applied Climatology, says rainfall will be short of needed levels the rest of this month. But he is “optimistic that moving forward over January, we will once again have favorable wet windows over the eastern fringe of the country – the region that most needs water.”
