Increase in soybeans output holds reduction in estimate of 2018 harvest
October 11, 2018 09h00 AM | Last Updated: October 11, 2018 11h57 AM
The agricultural harvest should reach 226.2 million tonnes in 2018, 6% below that of 2017. Having been estimated at 117.3 million tonnes, the forecast of the soybeans harvest remained a record, representing an increase of 2% over last year. This information comes from the September´s Systematic Survey of Agricultural Production - LSPA, released today by the IBGE.
On the other hand, the harvests of corn and rice, which, together with soybeans, accounted for 92.8% of the national output, should fall 18.6% and 5.7%, respectively. According to Carlos Antônio Barradas, manager of the survey, the harvests of corn and rice were jeopardized by the late summer rainfall and reduced planted area.
"Today, soybeans is the major product of the Brazilian agriculture. Producers have been increasing the planted area of soybeans rather than corn, as the expected profitability is quite higher. The prices remain steady in the international market, due to the increasing demand from China. Moreover, the devaluation of the real against the dollar increased the competitiveness of the Brazilian soybeans over other producers", explained him.
