Brazil's overall grain production in the 2023/2024 cycle is set to shrink 1% compared with the previous season, totaling 319.5 million metric tons, the food supply and statistics agency Conab predicted on Tuesday.
The lower forecast was driven by an expected 9.1% drop in Brazil's total corn crop, to 119.8 million tons, fueled by a predicted 4.8% drop in harvest area to 21.2 million hectares, Conab said in its first forecast for the 2023/2024 cycle.
Soybean output meanwhile is expected to increase by 5.1% to 162.4 million tons, with a 2.8% increase in its production area to 45.3 million hectares, it added.
Brazil's cotton production is expected to reach 2.9 million tons, down 5.6% from the previous cycle.
Reporting by Roberto Samora; Writing by Peter Frontini; Editing by Chris Reese