More South American growers than originally expected may switch to soy next season because of plummeting price for corn which have fallen by 10% over the past month on the Rofex exchange. Corn is typically planted in Argentina between September and January, and Argentinian corn area for next season is forecast at 3.3 million hectares by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) bureau in Buenos Aires – the lowest area in five years. The bureau estimates Argentina’s corn harvest to be 23.5 million tons – 2.5 million tons below the USDA’s official forecast. Brazilian soybean sowing is forecast to climb by 4.9% in 2014/15 to a record 31 million hectares by AgRural as corn prices in that country fall below government-guaranteed floor levels. Given normal growing conditions, this acreage could easily produce 94 million tons – outpacing the 85.6 million tons of 2013/14. Brazilian soybean exports for the first half of 2014 were equal to 74% of the total exports for 2013, taking logistic capacity away from sugar exports and indicating that Brazilian soybean exports might reach a record this year.
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