Brazil corn exports at 345,500 mt so far in March: government data

New Delhi — Brazil's corn exports in the first two weeks of March were at 345,500 mt, which is lower than the pace of exports during the same period last year, Secretariat of Foreign Trade data showed Tuesday.

Last year, Brazil exported 826,700 mt of corn in March, at a rate of 43,500 mt/d, compared to 34,500 mt/d so far in March this year, the data showed. In February, Brazil exported 346,400 mt of corn.

Record exports during the last marketing year and losses in the first corn crop yields in southern parts of Brazil this season have depleted domestic stocks.

Domestic consumers are willing to pay extra for procuring corn during the off season, national agricultural agency Conab said in a report on Monday.

Corn prices are expected to remain high for the next few days with heated domestic demand, the report said.

At the same time, further weakening of the Brazilian real against the US dollar is also making corn exports attractive, Conab said.

Brazil is expected to export 34 million mt of corn in 2019-20, which refers to the period between February 2020-January 2021, as compared with the estimate of 41.17 million mt for 2018-19, according to Conab.