Articles By Marcela Caetano

Argentina’s Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (SagyP) has cut its estimate for Argentina’s corn sowed area by 200,000 hectares, to 9.2 million ha, while keeping soybean estimates unchanged at 18 million ha, its monthly report showed late on Thursday February 20.

US soybean sales for 2024/25 were reported at 480,300 tonnes in the week to February 13, up by 258.9% from the previous week’s 185,500 tonnes but down by 23% from the prior four-week average, landing at the higher end of the market participants’ expected range of 100,000-500,000 tonnes, USDA data showed on Friday February 21.

Brazil’s National Energy Policy Council (CNPE) halted the increase of the country’s biodiesel mandate, the biodiesel blend in diesel required by law, to 15% (B15) effective on March 1, the council said on Tuesday February 18.

Brazilian grain exporters’ association Anec reduced its estimates for Brazilian soybean exports to 9.7 million tonnes in February, from the previous week’s forecast of 10.1 million tonnes, the association's weekly report showed on Tuesday February 18.

Brazilian soybean exports amounted to 1.7 million tonnes in the first two weeks of February, while corn shipments reached 827,009 tonnes in the same period, customs weekly data showed on Monday February 17.

US President Donald Trump has signaled the intention to apply reciprocal tariffs to countries that charge US imports, targeting Brazilian ethanol among other products and countries.

The Rosario Grain Exchange (BCR) set its first official estimate for Argentina’s soybean output at 47.5 million tonnes, 2.5 million tonnes below last year's 50 million tonnes, while also cutting its corn output forecast by 2 million tonnes to 46 million tonnes due to a heat wave and lack of water in the country, its monthly reported showed on Thursday February 13.

Brazilian food agency Conab has increased its estimate for the country’s total corn crop by 2.1%, to 122 million tonnes, while slightly cutting its projection for the country’s 2024/25 soybean output by 0.2%, to 166 million tonnes, its monthly report showed on Thursday February 13.

US soybean net sales for 2024/25 fell by 52% in the week to February 6 to 185,500 tonnes, from the previous week’s 387,700 tonnes and by 74% the prior four-week average, landing below the market participants’ average expected range of 300,000-800,000 million tonnes, data from the USDA showed on Thursday February 13.

Brazilian grain exporters’ association Anec increased its estimates for Brazilian soybean exports to 10.01 million tonnes in February from the previous week’s forecast of 9.7 million tonnes, its weekly report showed on Tuesday February 11.

The US Department of Agriculture reduced its global forecast for soybean production and ending stocks in 2024/25 below market projections, cutting Argentina’s output estimate but keeping Brazil’s output unchanged in its World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report released on Tuesday February 11.

Brazilian corn exports amounted to 3.59 million tonnes in January, down by 26.3% from the same month last year, while soybean shipments fell by 62.4% to 1.07 million tonnes, customs weekly data showed on Monday February 10.

The Argentine government announced temporary cuts to export taxes, known as retenciones, for soybeans, soymeal, soyoil, sunflower, wheat, corn, sorghum and barley late on Thursday January 23.

Buenos Aires Grains Exchange (BAGE) has cut its estimates for Argentina’s soybean and corn output in 2024/25 due to the dryness in important producing areas of the country.

Argentina’s wheat output totaled 18.6 million tonnes in 2024/25, up by 23.2% from the previous crop year’s 15.1 million tonnes and 8.8% above the average for the past five years, on the back of a higher area and yield, Buenos Aires Grains Exchange (BAGE) said in its final 2024/25 crop report released on Wednesday January 22.

China’s General Administration of Customs (GACC) has suspended shipments from five individual units at five Brazilian soybean exporters due to the identification of non-conformities in cargoes, the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture said on Wednesday January 22.

Brazilian grain exporters’ association Anec increased its estimate for Brazilian corn, soybean and wheat exports in January its weekly report published on Tuesday January 21.

Brazil's soybean harvest reached 1.2% of the projected area of 47.4 million hectares in the week ended Sunday January 19, while the second corn crop, safrinha, sowing advances slowly, national food agency Conab said in its weekly crop progress report published late on Monday January 20.

Brazilian corn exports reached 2.02 million tonnes in the first three weeks of January, while soybean exports totaled 539,339 tonnes in the same period, customs weekly data showed on Monday January 20.

Corn harvest advanced 8 percentage points, to 16% of an area of 748,511 hectares in the week to Thursday January 16 in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, while soybean sowing remains interrupted by the lack of rain, state agency Emater said in its weekly report released late on Thursday.