Excellent growing conditions in Argentina permitted soybean and corn planting to maintain a rapid pace the week ending 11 December, according to the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange (Bage).
Soybean plating increased nearly 11 percentage points over the week, as weather conditions remained supportive. Planting progressed the most across the region north of Cordoba and in Santa Fe, where planting progressed 26 percentage points and 34 percentage points, respectively. In total, Argentina soybean planting reached 67.4pc complete, nearly eight percentage points ahead of the prior year.
Growing conditions also remained supportive of crops development, with 94pc of planted soybean area experiencing optimal moisture conditions, up four percentage points from the prior year. As a result, 65pc of the crop was rated as being in excellent conditions, more than double the share of the crop rated as in excellent condition in the year prior. Crop rated in poor conditions also remained low at 1pc compared to 4pc in the year prior.
Corn planting maintained its advanced pace over the week ending 11 December, reaching 55.6pc complete, or six percentage points ahead of last year's pace. Planting progressed most rapidly south of Cordoba and in the Saint Louis region, with planting progressing by more than 15 percentage points in both regions.
The share of planted corn area experiencing optimal growing conditions did decline slightly over the week due to hail and frost in the south-central Buenos Aries region, down two percentage points to 94pc optimal. However, the share of the crop rated in excellent conditions gained eight percentage points from the prior week to reach 51pc.
The sunflower crop outlook remains very positive, with 89pc of the crop rated in excellent condition. However, crop development was reported as 14 percentage points behind average due to late planting. Limited indications of crop failure were reported in northeastern Argentina, where harvest has begun. However, early yields in the region were reported above 2t per hectare.
Wheat harvest across Argentina reached 63.9pc complete, pulling nearly nine percentage points ahead of the prior year. Yields average 2.68t per hectare, gaining 9pc from the prior week, with total harvested volumes reaching 10.6mn t.
With the completion of crop tours, Bage revised acreage estimates for the southwest and basin regions higher, but these gains were offset by reductions in the central region and southeast of Buenos Aries, leaving final production estimates even with the prior week at 18.6mn t.
