Brazil soybean exports to fall 2% on China trade deal: Abiove

Brazilian exports of soybeans to China will fall 2% compared with previous expectations after Chinese government officials pledged to buy billions of dollars of US agricultural goods as part of a broader trade deal, a trade lobby said Friday.

According to Brazil’s vegoil industry association Abiove, the country’s exports will fall to 73.5 million mt, down 1.5 million mt from previous estimates.

“In view of the expectation of easing the trade war between the United States and China, the export scenario forecasts a 2% drop to the volume previously forecast, representing a projection of 73.5 million tons,” Abiove said.

The fall comes as the agency said Brazil would produce its biggest ever harvest at 123.7 million mt and see a record number of beans going through the press at 43.4 million mt on high demand for biodiesel.

As large as that crop sounds, Abiove’s estimate for the harvest falls more than 1 million mt below the USDA guess of 125 million mt.

Meal production will reach 33.9 million mt as a result.