Argentina Grains Exchange Edges Up Soy Harvest Forecast on Better Yields

By Maximilian Heath

BUENOS AIRES, May 8 (Reuters) – Argentina’s Buenos Aires grains exchange on Thursday edged up its forecast for the 2024/25 soybean harvest to 50 million metric tons, up from a prior forecast of 48.6 million tons, saying yields are proving better than previously expected.

Argentina is the world’s top supplier of soybean oil and meal.

Argentine farmers have now harvested around half of the early batch of soybeans and reported higher-than-expected yields in the South American country’s agricultural heartlands and Cordoba province, the exchange said in a weekly crop report.

Soybeans that were sown later in the season, and whose harvest is just beginning, are also showing better than anticipated yields so far, it added.

Harvesting progressed at a good pace thanks to dry weather late last week, it said, noting that farmers have already harvested 44.9% of the 18.4 million hectares of soy planted nationwide.

Strong rains since the start of this week have, however, hampered harvesting, with meteorologist German Heinzenknecht warning that the delay could continue through to Saturday.

Argentina’s 2024/25 corn harvest is also producing higher-than-expected yields, the exchange added, while maintaining its 49-million-ton forecast.

Farmers have harvested 34.9% of the nation’s dedicated cornfields. Argentina is the world’s third-largest exporter of the staple grain.

(Reporting by Maximilian Heath; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Kylie Madry)