Houston — Brazil will produce 82.18 million mt of corn in the current 2017-18 crop, federal crop agency Conab said Thursday, down from 82.93 million mt in the agency's July estimate and sharply lower than the record 97.84 million mt produced in 2016-17.
The most relevant cut was for the second, or winter crop, currently being harvested and affected by adverse weather in several regions.
Conab said the second crop, also known in Brazil as "safrinha", is now projected at 55.35 million mt, down from 56.02 million mt estimated in July and 67.38 million mt produced in 2016-17.
"The low performance of the second crop is due to a combination of a smaller planted area and bad weather in Parana state, the second-largest corn producer in Brazil of the second crop," Conab said in the report.
The agency also cut its estimate for the first of summer crop to 26.83 million mt, down from 26.91 million mt and from 30.46 million mt in 2016-17.
Conab kept expected corn exports from the current crop at 30 million mt, unchanged from its July report, but down from 30.83 million mt exported from the 2016-17 harvest.
Several analysts have been pegging Brazil's corn exports around 28 million mt, as a result of the lower crop and higher costs of domestic truck freight.
Brazil is world's second-largest corn exporter, only behind the US.
