Brazil's 2020/23 soybean and maize harvest is expected to exceed previous expectations and reach a record high, market consultancy StoneX said on Monday. In addition, StoneX raised its estimate for exports of the crop in the 2021/22 quarter as China began importing corn from Brazil.

StoneX said it has entered the final sowing stage for the 202/23 season and expects to produce 155 million tonnes of soyabeans, ahead of last month's forecast of 154.35 million tonnes, istoedinheiro reports. If the latest forecasts come true, the season's soyabean harvest will be up 21.9 per cent year on year. This is because the dry weather last season had an adverse impact on soybean production.

Ana Luiza Lodi, a market intelligence specialist at the consultancy, said: "The outlook for this season's Brazilian soyabeans harvest is very positive, despite the fact that rainfall in many areas has been below the historical average. Of course, the weather in the coming weeks and months will also be very important in terms of how much of the crop is actually harvested."

On the export side, StoneX's forecast for soyabean exports is 79.5 million tonnes in 2021/22, with the crop's exports expected to rise to 96 million tonnes in 2020/23.

For the corn crop, StoneX's latest forecast is 130.3 million tonnes for the 202/23 season, up from a previous estimate of 129.9 million tonnes.

"In addition to the states of Mato Grosso and Para, the growth in crop harvest in the MATOPI region (involving Maranhao, Tocantins and Piaui) cannot be ignored," the forecast says. StoneX has made minor adjustments to corn production in the region, with the latest estimate of 99.6 million tonnes (second season harvest), up 0.4% from the previous report."

StoneX raised its corn export forecast from 42m tonnes to 45m tonnes in 2021/22 and 46m tonnes in 2020/23 as Brazilian corn sales to China begin.