BUENOS AIRES, Jan 19 (Reuters) - The Buenos Aires grains exchange on Thursday cut its estimate for Argentina's 2022/2023 corn harvest to 44.5 million tonnes, after the country's agricultural areas were hit by drought, down from the 52 million tonnes it collected last cycle.
In September, the exchange had forecast 50 million tonnes of corn this cycle, but earlier this month said it could shrink to as low as 37.8 million tonnes in a worst case scenario.
Earlier Thursday, the exchange had predicted that a storm front would over the next week bring "moderate to abundant" rainfall across most of Argentina's agricultural area.
However, the exchange said that lack of water so far meant that the condition of Argentina's early corn crop had continued to deteriorate across the eastern part of its agricultural area.
Corn planting advanced to 88.6% of an expected area of 7.1 hectares, while soybean planting advanced to 95.5% of the 16.2 hectare area forecast by the exchange, it added.
Lack of rainfall in Argentina, the world's largest exporter of soybean oil and meal and the third-largest exporter of corn, has slowed the planting of its current corn and soybean crops and nearly halved its wheat output.
Last week, Argentina's Rosario Grains exchange also cut its 2022/23 corn harvest estimate to around 45 million tonnes, from 55 million previously. (Reporting by Walter Bianchi and Carolina Pulice; Editing by Sarah Morland and Alistair Bell)
