Brazilian farmers will export a record 38 million tonnes of corn this year, as their crop becomes more competitive thanks to a record harvest and historic US planting delays, according to agribusiness consultancy Agroconsult. Agroconsult revised upward its forecast for exports this year to 38 million tons from 31 million tonnes. The group also revised the forecast for the crop to 101.2 million tonnes of corn in the 2018-19 season from 100.4 million tonnes.

Brazil's second corn crop is now seen at 74.6 million tonnes compared to 74.2 million tonnes expected in May, according to Agroconsult. Corn exports last year were only 24 million tonnes, and the previous record was 31 million tonnes in 2017. "US corn is expensive and we expect to regain some markets we lost last year," said Agroconsult director Andre Pessoa.

Copyright Reuters, 2019