The world?s number one soybean producer continues to deal with harvest delays.
In this week?s South American weather and crop update, Allendale commodities broker Greg McBride says Brazil?s soybean harvest remains well behind the usual pace, which is causing big buyers like China to keep purchasing from the U.S.
?Over the next five days, southern Brazil and Argentina are going to be dry,? McBride said. ?That?s going to help parts of southern Brazil start to get out there and get some of this harvest done. They are way behind from Mato Grosso basically south. That?s a huge deal for them. Being 5-10 percent complete on harvest is way behind where they should be this time of year. Argentina could use a nice rain, but they are just not getting it at this point.?
McBride says Brazil?s supplies will likely normalize by March, but that could mean trouble at Brazilian ports.
?That?s one of the reason?s we continue to see this demand for U.S. beans and U.S. corn continue to stay strong,? he said. ?There?s worry that there won?t be enough new crop delivered to ports in the short amount of time they have to get those new crop shipments going. We already know the Brazilian farmer has already booked about 65-75 percent of this year?s crop.?
Reports say that despite the delay issues, Brazil is expected to harvest near 130 million tons of soybeans, which would be an increase from 2019-2020. McBride expects that harvest number to be even higher.
?Anywhere from 132-133 million metric tons, which would be a record over last year?s numbers,? McBride said. ?We know they have had their problems with late planting and now late harvest, but they still have a big crop that will come to market at some point here.?
McBride noted the safrinha corn crop planting is experiencing delays in Brazil. The team at Allendale can be reached by calling 800-262-7538, or you can visit allendale-inc.com.
