Brazil’s Mato Grosso farmers hold back soybean forward sales: IMEA

Farmers in Brazil’s largest agricultural-producing state, Mato Grosso, held back soybean sales in October due to crop uncertainties while locking in more deals for corn to free up storage space, the state’s agriculture institute IMEA said in its weekly bulletin Monday.

Soybean

Forward sales for new crop soybeans reached 31.7% in October, up 2.8 percentage points on the month.

“Farmers are waiting for a better definition of crop conditions before locking in deals for larger volumes,” IMEA said.

The state has been struggling with low rainfall volumes and excessive heat since the beginning of the season, with replanting needs already reported.

Old crop forward sales, meanwhile, advanced 2.7 points on the month to land 2.2 points ahead of the previous year and 2.7 points behind the previous five-year average at 94.5%.

Average prices increased for both crops in October, with 2022/23 prices up 0.9% and new crop up 1.7% compared with average September levels.

Corn

Forward corn sales gathered some steam in October but continued to lag compared with the prior year and the previous five-year average.

Sales for the 2022/23 marketing year advanced 4.9 points on the month, with 76.8% of the crop committed.

“This increase is related to farmers’ need to free up storage space and was only not greater due to the 2.7% backdrop in corn prices compared with September’s levels,” IMEA said.

That said, forward sales were still 14.4% lower compared with the previous five-year average and 6.8% behind last season’s level.

Forward corn sales for the 2023/24 marketing year increased 3.4 points on the month to reach 13.9% of the estimated crop in October “thanks to an increase in prices,” according to IMEA.

New crop sales remained 24.7 points behind the previous five-year average and 4.9 points slower than in the previous season.