Brazil forward soybean sales behind schedule: consultant

Forward sales of soybean from the world’s biggest exporting country are down year on year by just over 1 percentage point, according to a report by consultants Safras & Mercado.

Producers have sold 26.7% of their expected harvest, equivalent to 30.6 million mt of an expected 114.7 million mt harvest, said the report, which was released on Friday.

That compares with 28% at this time last year on a similar harvest, but 5 percentage points under the historical average of 33%, albeit on a smaller harvest.

In terms of old crop, 93% had been sold versus 96% a year ago and 95% on average.

The report comes as rival consultancy AgRural on Friday revised upward its estimate for the current soybean crop to 112 million mt, up 2.7 million mt from its previous estimate.

“It’s very different to Argentina (where weather has delayed the planting season). It’s hot all day and rains most nights,” one trader said.