AgroConsult: Brazil soybean acreage growth to slow due to lack of fertilizer supply
BEIJING, March 20 (Reuters) – Brazil’s soybean area growth may slow as farmers face a looming shortage of fertilizers, an agribusiness consultancy said.
Brazil’s soybean area has been growing at a rate of 1 million to 1.5 million hectares (3.7 million acres) a year, said Andrea Pesso, a partner at AgroConsult. But the increase in soybean acreage next year is unlikely to be achieved by the disruption of global fertilizer supplies due to Western sanctions on Russia and Belarus. He estimates that soybean area will increase by between 500,000 hectares and 1 million hectares next year. Given the current situation, it will be closer to 500,000 hectares.
AgroConsult estimates Brazil’s soybean production in 2022 at just under 125 million tons, down nearly 11 percent from a year earlier, as drought affects southern states, including Parana and Rio Grande do Sul The average unit yields of 2019 decreased by 38.7% and 56.2% respectively from the previous year.