Brazil's Conab sees record soy output and lower corn plantings as prices fall

Brazilian farmers will harvest a record soybean crop in the new season as they are sowing the oilseed over an larger area, the government's crop agency Conab said on Tuesday in the first forecast report for the 2023/24 grain cycle.

Farmers in the South American food powerhouse, which have already began planting their new soy and first corn, are expected to produce 162 million metric tons of soybeans, 4.8% more than last year, Conab said.

Brazilian soy growers are expected to expand the planted area to 45.1 million hectares from 44 million hectares, a 2.5% rise from last season, according to Conab calculations.

Brazilian farmers will reap an estimated 119.404 million tons of total corn, a 9.5% drop from last season, reflecting a smaller planted area and the initial effects of the El Niño weather pattern.

Conab said Brazil's first and second corn planted area will be reduced by respectively 6.7% and 4.5% in the 2023/24 cycle as farmers are finding corn prices unattractive relative to soybeans.

The El Niño weather patter is already affecting Brazil's corn outlook.

In Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil's southernmost state, heavy rains have considerably delayed first corn planting, Conab said.

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