Ideal weather conditions throughout Brazil have increased soyabean yields and raised expectations of another bumper crop on an increased planted area for 2024/25, according to a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) report.
In its Brazil: Oilseeds and Products Update, the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) increased its 2024/25 forecast for soyabean planted area expansion to 47M ha, up from the previous estimate of 46.3M ha.
The 2.3% year-on-year increase in planted area was in line with the five-year average, the 27 December Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) update said.
With a larger planted area, the USDA also increased its 2024/25 forecast for soyabean production to a record 165M tonnes, up from 161M tonnes previously, based on a yield of 3.51 tonnes/ha.
“Most of the major soyabean producing areas received favourable rain in November which encouraged the development and implementation of the crop. A small number of regions including Piaui, Tocantins and Mato Grosso do Sul experienced short periods of a lack of rain,” the USDA said.
Brazilian farmers’ adoption of and investment in technology, such as genetically engineered (GE) seeds specifically formulated to be drought-resistant, was another key factor behind the ongoing soyabean yield improvement in the country, according to the report.
If the forecasts were reached, the USDA expected another record for Brazil’s soyabean exports with 105M tonnes to be shipped in 2024/25, up from the previous record of 101.8M tonnes in 2022/23.
Based on available supplies and an increase in demand for soyabean products, soyabean crushing in 2024/25 was expected to total 56M tonnes, up from the original forecast of 55.5M tonnes.
Brazilian production of soyabean oil in 2024/25 was forecast at 12M tonnes, with domestic oil consumption expected to increase to 10.2M tonnes.
“In Brazil, soy[abean] oil is the main ingredient used in the production of biodiesel,” the USDA said.
“In recent years, biodiesel output surged to meet government-mandated annual biodiesel blend rate hikes.”
The 2024/25 forecast for soyabean meal production was increased slightly to 43.1M tonnes.
Domestic soyabean meal consumption was forecast to increase to 21.3M tonnes, while exports were estimated at 21.8M tonnes.
With strong Chinese demand for Brazilian soyabeans, stocks were expected to remain at low levels of around 5.6M tonnes in 2024/25, or about 3.5% of domestic supply.
