Brazil, which is the world's largest soya exporter and could become the biggest producer in the upcoming season, is expected to expand the soyabean planted area by 2% to 36.8 million hectares, a record, Datagro Consultoria said.
That could result in production of 125 million to 126 million tonnes of the oilseeds, compared with 116.76 million tonnes during this year's harvest, which was affected by drought. It would also allow Brazil to overtake the United States as the world's top soya producer. Corn planting in 2019-20 is expected to reach 18.1 million hectares, up 4% from the previous season, to give a total harvest of 104.28 million tonnes, compared with 100.02 million tonnes in the 2018-19 cycle, Datagro said.
The consultancy expects Brazil to export 78 million tonnes of soya during the 2019-20 cycle, compared with 71.7 million tonnes in the 2018-19 harvest. Brazil is seen exporting a record 40 million tonnes of corn in 2019, up from 25 million last year. However, Datagro's chief of grain, Flávio França Jr, said those expectations will rely heavily on the weather.