World Soybean Production at Five-Year Low - USDA

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in its February World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report lowered its forecast for global soybean production for 2022-23 season to 383 million MT.  This is a reduction by 5 million MT from its January forecast.  The decline was mainly on account of increasingly diminishing prospects for the soybean crop in Argentina due to the worst drought it currently experiences in more than half a century.

USDA lowered its forecast for the Argentina soybean crop to 41 million MT, off 4.5 million MT, or 10%, from the Department’s January projection of 45.5 million MT, placing production at a five-year low for the country.  However, the cut in Argentina’s production was moderated by forecast for record soybean production in Brazil, which helped stabilize expectations for global soybean exports.  

In the February WASDE, the USDA left unchanged from January its projections for 2022-23 soybean crop in Brazil at 153 million MT, up 23.5 million MT, or 18%, from the country’s estimated soybean production in 2021-22.