According to Reuters, the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange on Tuesday forecast Argentina's 2023/24 wheat harvest at 18 million tonnes, up 45% from the 12.4 million tonnes harvested last season (2022/23) as the country faced a historic drought.
Argentina is a key international exporter of wheat, with most shipments sent to Brazil and Indonesia. Favorable weather in the 2021/22 cycle had helped generate a record crop of 22.4 million tonnes.
Planting for the 2023/24 wheat campaign is due to begin in the coming weeks, but the grains exchange estimated that due to dry conditions in some areas, farmers will sow just 6.3 million hectares, down from the 6.7 hectare forecast last month.
The El Niño weather phenomenon, which brings heavier-than-usual rainfall to Argentina's agricultural area, has already begun, the exchange added.