Oct 10, 2019
Brazilians Aggressively Selling their 2019/20 Grain Production
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Brazilian farmers have been aggressively forward contracting their anticipated 2019/20 soybean and corn production. In the state of Mato Grosso, which is Brazil's largest soybean and corn producing state, farmers had sold 36% of their intended 2019/20 soybean production by the end of September according to the Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural Economics (Imea). This represented an increase of 5% during the month of September. Last year at this time, farmers in the state had sold 34% of their production and the 5-year average is 29%.
Farmers have been even more aggressive in forward contracting their anticipated 2019/20 corn production. Farmers in Mato Grosso have sold 41.8% of their anticipated 2019/20 corn production compared to 29% last year and 23% for the 5-year average. Farmers in the state will plant their corn in January and February following the soybean harvest. The ideal planting window for safrinha corn in Mato Grosso closes about the third week of February.
Even though the premiums for soybeans at the Port of Santos have declined in recent weeks, higher prices on the Chicago Board of Trade and a weaker Brazilian currency have sustained grain prices in Mato Grosso.