Brazil's 2016/17 winter corn crop is estimated at a record 59.9 million tonnes, up from 40.7 million tonnes in the previous season, private consultant AgRural said on Monday. The country's total corn crop is projected at 88.3 million tonnes, an increase of 33 percent compared with 2015/16, when yields were hurt by below-average rain in important growing regions.

"Corn prices are relatively firm, after the drought in 2016, stimulating producers to increase the planted area," said AgRural in its first report for the new winter crop. In Brazil, the winter corn crop is planted right after the main summer soybean crop is harvested.

"The fast pace and good development of the soybean crop reinforces our expectation of a rapid soybean harvest, allowing a good weather window for winter corn planting. However, the final planted area will depend on the appropriate weather during the sowing period, between January and March," said AgRural. Brazil is the world's third-largest corn producer and should be the second-largest exporter in 2016/17.

Copyright Reuters, 2016