The perennial No. 2 soybean grower in the world, Brazil, is headed for a record crop this year thanks to larger plantings and beneficial growing conditions, reported Agrimoney. The national crop agency Conab forecast a harvest of 103.8 million tonnes, up nearly 9 percent from last year but still trailing the world leader, the United States.
The U.S. would account for 35 percent of the world soybean crop and Brazil 30 percent, according to the USDA’s current estimates for 2016/17. But Brazil would be the largest soybean exporter in the world, as usual, with the U.S. at No 2.
The USDA is scheduled to update its estimates of the U.S. and Brazilian crops on Friday. Traders expect a Brazilian crop of 102.4 million tonnes, roughly the same as the USDA estimated a month ago, according to a Bloomberg survey. The just-harvested U.S. crop also was a record at 4.361 billion bushels, or 118.69 million tonnes.