AgRural Raises Forecast for Brazil’s Corn Output on Record Second Crop

By Gabriel Araujo

SAO PAULO, June 30 (Reuters) – Brazil’s total corn production is expected to hit 130.6 million metric tons in 2024/25, agribusiness consultancy AgRural said on Monday, raising its forecast from the 128.5 million tons it projected earlier this month.

The revision reflects higher estimates for the country’s second corn crop, AgRural said in a statement, bumping up its forecast to a record 103.4 million tons from the previous 101.5 million.

Brazil’s second corn crop, which is set to account for about 80% of national output this year, is planted after soybeans are harvested in the same areas and mainly exported in the second half, competing with U.S. corn suppliers on global markets.

Farmers in Brazil’s center-south region had harvested 18% of their second corn areas by last Thursday, according to AgRural, up 5 percentage points from the previous week but still lagging the 49% reported at the same time last year.

Frosts and rainfall hampered fieldwork last week, also raising concern about yields and grain quality in some areas, AgRural said. Top grain-producing state Mato Grosso has been leading the way, followed distantly by Parana state.

Northern Parana was the region most affected by last week’s frosts, with additional but less severe losses reported in southern Mato Grosso do Sul, western Parana and southern Sao Paulo, the consultancy said.

“Losses are now being assessed by the farmers, but the process has been hindered by rains that arrived after the cold snap,” AgRural noted, adding it would release a fresh output forecast next month.

(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; editing by Barbara Lewis and Jan Harvey)