Soy: Parana crop conditions worsen

Soybean crop conditions in Brazil's southern state of Parana deteriorated in the latest week because of lighter-than-normal rainfall that keeps pushing back local planting of the oilseed.

Acreage planted for this time of year was at only 10pc of the expected area in the latest week, down from 29pc a year ago, according to Parana's Department of Rural Economics (Deral-PR) weekly report.

The report said 56pc of the soybeans already sowed were classified as "good" and the other 44pc as "average" for this time of year, versus 60pc and 40pc, respectively, last week.

At the same time last year, all the plantings were reported as "good".

The situation shadows the lower-than-expected rainfall in Parana, Brazil's second-largest producer of soybeans.

In the last 30 days, rainfall missed the historical average across the state, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa). In parts of the west portion of Parana, rains were as much as 150mm below normal levels.

Soybean planting in Parana usually takes place between September-December.

Deral-PR expects that the southern state will plant 5.5mn hectares (13.59mn acres) and harvest 19.8mn metric tons (t) of soybean in the current 2019-20 season.