Brazil’s Soy Sales Fall as Farmers Hoard Beans

In a bid to hold out for higher prices, Brazil’s soybean growers are hoarding their crops. The country’s farmers have sold 58 percent of the current expected crop compared to 76 percent at the same time last year, according to a report from consultancy Safras & Mercados.

As the Brazilian real regains strength this year, soybean prices have been pushed below $10 per bushel compared to prices equal to $12 per bushel in June of last year. And though market conditions will not support higher prices at this time, Brazil’s farmers are holding back their crops in the hope that a weather event may result in a smaller U.S. harvest this season, which will consequently boost prices.

Safras & Mercados predicts that Brazil will see a soybean crop of 113.3 million tons for the 2016/17 season, and expects the country to have traded 66 million tons as of June 5 of this year.

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