Brazilian soy exports lag 18% on-year amid slow harvest

Brazilian soybean exports for February are down 18% on the year to 2.86 million mt, due to a slow start of the harvest as plantings were delayed, the Brazilian ministry of development, industry and foreign trade reported late Thursday.

Brazil's soybean harvest is off to a sluggish start as plantings were delayed by several weeks due to wet weather.

Exports tend to ramp up in February at the start of the Brazilian season and typically peak in April and May.

The reported average price for the bean was $381.70/mt, up marginally by $1.60 from January but down from $400.1/mt for the same period last year, Brazilian government data shows.

Brazil is expected to harvest some 114.7 million mt of beans this season, slightly higher than the 2017 record of 114.2 million, according to Brazil’s Association of Vegetable Oil Industries.

Meal and oil exports, however, were up significantly from last year, with meal exports for February nearly doubling on the year to 1.35 million mt, while oil exports were 125,600 mt, or 50,000 mt more for the same period last year.

Corn exports during February slowed down on the month to 1.25 million mt, 1.77 million mt below January's export levels but well up from February 2017 when only 487,000 mt was shipped out.

The average price for corn during February was $159.6/mt, up from $155.2/mt in January 2018 but down $17.3 for the same period last year.