Soy planting in Mato Grosso nearly complete

Soybean planting in Brazil's central-western state of Mato Grosso has advanced by nearly 10 percentage points over the last week, reaching 91.6pc of the expected planted area for the current 2019-20 season.

The current planting is well ahead of the five-year average of 83pc for this time of year.

One year earlier, planting was at 96.25pc of 2018-19 expected planted area at this time, the local Institute of Agricultural Economics (Imea) said.

Farmers took advantage of recent rains after the dry weather in September and early October delayed the beginning of planting in the state to accelerate their planting. Still, forecasts call for more irregular rain, which has prompted some uncertainty about the development of the crop in Mato Grosso, said Rural Clima agrometeorologist Marco Antonio dos Santos.

The state is on track to plant 9.78mn hectares (24.2mn acres) with soybean this season, and the harvest is anticipated to reach 33mn metric tonnes.