Brazil’s soybean crush margins, corn prices down: IMEA

Soybean crush margins in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil’s agriculture powerhouse, fell 20% over the week pressured by lower futures and an appreciating domestic currency, the state’s agriculture institute IMEA said in its weekly bulletin.

The Brazilian real appreciated 3.4% against the US dollar on the week to August 27, pressuring domestic bean and meal prices.

“With the devaluation of the US dollar last week, the IMEA indicator for bean prices available in the state fell 1.8% on the week,” the institute said.

“With lower domestic bean and meal prices, gross crush margins fell 20%,” IMEA added.

Corn prices in the domestic market also tumbled on the week, with available prices down 1.0% to BRL78.31 ($15.10) per 60kg bag.

As a result, the gap between domestic prices and CBOT futures widened by 9.7% on the week to BRL10.11 ($1.95) per bag.

Brazilian futures at the B3 stock exchange also edged 2.7% lower on the week to BRL95.36 ($18.39) per bag.