Soy: Planting in Parana in final stretch

Soybean planting in Brazil's southern state of Parana is in the final stretch, advancing by 10 percentage points from the prior week to 89pc of the expected area for the current 2019-20 season.

Parana is expected to plant 5.5mn hectares (13.6mn acres) of soybean this year. At this time last year, 88pc of the expected acreage had been planted, Parana Department of Rural Economics (Deral-PR) said today.

Soybean planting in the state, Brazil's second-largest producer of the oilseed, had an erratic beginning back in September and early October due to the lack of rainfall.

Despite faster sowing in recent weeks, the dry weather effects continue to be felt. According to Deral-PR, 77pc of the soybean already planted is seen as "good" versus 98pc a year ago.

Regarding summer corn, planting is virtually completed, having reached 99pc of the expected area of 338,000ha, up from the 98pc at this time last year.

Parana is poised to harvest nearly 20mn metric tonnes (t) of soybeans this season, while the corn harvest is pegged at 3.1mn t.

by José Roberto Gomes