BUENOS AIRES, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Argentine farmers will increase soy planting by almost 4 percent as the South American grains powerhouse moves to bolster world food supplies hit by a year of bad global crop weather, the government said on Thursday.
In its first soybean area estimate of the 2012/13 season, the Agriculture Ministry said 19.4 million hectares will be sown in the weeks ahead versus 18.7 million hectares in 2011/12.
Tight grains stocks after a year of dry farm weather from Iowa to southern Russia to Australia may push prices to record highs as traders wait to see if upcoming harvests will be big enough to stave off a full-blown supply crisis.
Chicago soybean futures have already risen 18 percent this year, with corn up 12 percent and wheat up 31 percent. Sharp food price increases have serious implications for the global economy, driving up inflation at a time when consumers in many developed countries are struggling with rising unemployment.
Argentina is the world's No. 3 soybean exporter after Brazil and the United States. The country, also a top corn and wheat supplier, is key to bolstering world food stocks.
The United Nations predicts global food demand will double by 2050. South America is being counted on to provide most of the increase in world grains production between now and then.
While most industry analysts say Argentine soy plantings will rise this year, growers are struggling to keep early seeding on schedule because of flooding caused by months of heavier-than-normal rains.
"Soybean planting started late this year in Argentina and lags last year's tempo by 18 percentage points," the ministry said in its weekly crop report.
Farmers in the main agricultural province of Buenos Aires have watched their heavy seeding machines get stuck in the mud after a series of storms started lashing the Pampas in August.
"Rains and continued weather instability have caused flooding in fields that growers had set aside for soybeans," the report said, adding that sunny weather during the past week has allowed seeding to start as flood waters recede.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects Argentina to harvest 55 million tonnes of soy, 11.5 million tonnes of wheat and 28 million tonnes of corn in the 2012/13 crop year.
Supply from Argentina is of key interest to exporters such as Bunge Ltd BG.N and Noble Group Ltd NOBG.SI that operate huge grains terminals along the Parana River, which offers access to the busy shipping lanes of the South Atlantic.
In its weekly crop report Thursday, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said farmers had so far seeded 22 percent of the estimated soy area of 19.7 million hectares. The pace lags last year's by 15.4 percentage points, it said.
With regard to commercial-use corn, 45 percent of the 3.4 million hectares expected to be planted this year have been seeded, according to exchange data, lagging last year's tempo by 17 percentage points.
Farmers have collected 15 percent of 2012/13 wheat, progressing by 2.5 percentage points during the week and slightly ahead of last season's harvesting pace, the exchange said.
