DJ UPDATE: Brazil's Soy Crop Seen At 68 Mln Tons -Agroconsult

(Adds further details of key states and yields from press conference)


SAO PAULO (Dow Jones)--Brazil will harvest 68 million metric tons of soybeans from the 2009-10 crop, agronomists from consulting firm Agroconsult said Tuesday.

The number is based on a 12-state crop tour that Agroconsult finished this month.

The official estimates, made by the National Commodities Supply Corp., or Conab, this month put the crop at 67.5 million tons, up 18% from last year.

The crop is expected to be a record compared to the previous high mark in 2007-08, when Brazilian farmers harvested 60 million tons of soybeans.

Brazil's record 2009-10 soybean crop is up from the consultant's earlier estimate of 65 million tons in January, Andre Pessoa, director of consultancy Agroconsult, told reporters at a press conference in Sao Paulo.

Mato Grosso, Brazil's No. 1 soy-producing state, should produce 19.12 million tons of soy this season against 17.7 million tons last season, he said.

Parana state, the No. 2 soy producer, should produce a record 14.14 million tons this year compared to 9.4 million tons last year, when drought hampered the crop.

Rio Grande do Sul state, the third-largest producer, should also see 9.9 million tons this season versus 7.9 million tons from the last crop season, Pessoa said.

Brazil's yield for soybeans averaged at 48.8 60-kilogram bags per hectare for the 2009-10 crop compared to 43.6 kilograms per hectare last season, he said.

Brazil is currently harvesting soybeans and is the world's No. 2 producer behind the U.S.


-By Tony Danby, Dow Jones Newswires; 55-11-2847-4523;
anthony.danby@dowjones.com