Argentina soy plantings advance, BAGE may revise down production

Argentina soy planting advanced 5.6% last week to cover 87.5% of the 18.1 million hectares to be planted, the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange reported Thursday, although large swathes of the north of the country are still too dry to plant.

Of the 2.2 million hectares that remains still to be planted, around 75% of that area is located in the arid north, which has seen little rain.

However, as there is still some time to plant the area, greater short-term risks remain for the crop in the south of the country.

“There is a lack of conditions for sowing in the north of the country, but the major short-term risk is in the extreme south, where the lack of conditions could impact negatively on the estimated area intended for cultivation,” the report said.

Stubble wheat and barley on 350,000 hectares in the south of the country is now at risk, the bourse said.

Corn planting is faring better, however, with 78% of the 5.4 million hectares to be planted in the ground, 5.9% more than last year and up 7.7% on the week.

The wheat harvest has reached 91.6% of the planted area, the bourse said, with an average yield of 3.18 tonnes per hectares.

The exchange said it expects production to total 17 million mt.