Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Breaking News-RTRS-Oil World cuts Argentina soy crop forecast again

HAMBURG, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Hamburg-based oilseeds analysts Oil World said on Tuesday it has again cut its 2009 soybean crop forecasts for key exporter Argentina, this time by one million tonnes, because of drought in the country.
It now estimates Argentina will harvest 43.0 million tonnes of soybeans in early 2009, down from its Jan 27 estimate of 44.0 million tonnes and down from the country's 2008 harvest of 46.7 million tonnes.
In early January Oil World expected Argentina to harvest 48.8 million tonnes this year.
But it has kept its current forecast of Brazil's 2009 crop of 57.5 million tonnes, down from 60.02 million tonnes harvested by Brazil in 2008.