Argentine corn estimate lifted to 46m mt on late rains: BAGE

Argentina’s corn production estimate was increased to 46 million mt as late rains improved yield expectations but slowed down the harvest, with now 14.2% of the crop in the bins, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange (BAGE) said in a weekly report.

The estimate by the exchange was increased by 1 million mt from last week’s view but remains 5.5 million mt below last year’s record output.

“The rain... improved the yield expectations of late plantings, particularly in the province of Córdoba,” BAGE said, but added that “the rains put a stop to the harvest work”.

The harvest progressed 2.2 percentage points on the week with now 14.2% in the bins, at the lower end of the five-year average.

The rains also delayed the soybean harvest in the world’s third largest producer, with the harvest now at 7.2% complete, up 3.7 points on the week.

The exchange kept its production estimate for the bean crop at 43 million mt, with now 3.8 million mt harvested, and an average yield of 3.06 mt/ha.

Finally, the sunseed harvest is nearing the end with 95.8% harvested, up 1.8 points on the week, with harvest efforts also slowed due to the rains as total progress lagged 4.2 points behind on the year.

The final sunseed production estimate was kept unchanged at 2.7 million mt, with yields averaging at 2.17 mt/ha.