SAO PAULO, March 12 (Reuters) - Brazilian soybean farmers are hesitantly selling their new crop as depressed domestic prices dent plans to cash in on their produce, a survey carried out by agribusiness consultancy Datagro found on Tuesday.
Datagro is the second firm this week to say Brazilian soy farmers are reluctant to trade in their beans this season, citing unattractive prices for the country's best-selling agricultural commodity.
By March 1, sales of Brazil's 2023/24 soybean harvest reached 33.2% of expected production, below the 33.8% observed in the same period last year and way lower than the 62.6% record for the 2020/21 harvest.
Brazil, which exports most of its soybean output, competes with the U.S. and Argentina in global markets. Most of Brazil's soy goes to China.
The average of soy sales for the last five years, at this time in the season, is 48.5% of the expected crop, Datagro said.
The monthly increase by March 1 was just 2.2 percentage points, lower than the 2.6 percentage points recorded in the previous monthly survey and far from the 7.2 percentage point advance for the same period in 2023.
Flavio França Junior, a Datagro analyst, said that the below-normal increase in the pace of sales "is a direct reflection of the new generalized drop in prices in February."
He added that factoring in the strong decline in January soy sales, Brazilian farmers have sold close to 20% less of this season's soy crop so far.
Although growers may have a greater need to sell crops in March to meet financial commitments, persistently low prices means deals will be limited in Brazil, Datagro said.
Considering the current production estimate at 147.31 million metric tons, Brazilian producers have negotiated 48.90 million tons of their soybeans so far, Datagro added.
For the same reasons, sale of the country's 2024/25 soy harvest, which farmers will only plant in September, have also progressed little, according to Datagro. (Reporting by Ana Mano Editing by Marguerita Choy)
