Argentina grains exchange warns it may cut soybean crop estimate

BUENOS AIRES, May 9 (Reuters) - Argentina's Buenos Aires grain exchange warned again on Thursday it may cut its forecast for the 2023/24 soybean crop, currently at 51 million metric tons, as warm weather and a lack of rain in the country's north have led to lower-than-expected yields.

Argentina, along with neighboring Brazil, is one of the world's two main exporters of soybean oil and soybean meal.

In northeastern Argentina "there are delays in the harvest with yields below estimates. If this trend continues with the progress of the work, our current projection could be affected," the exchange said in its weekly crop report.

As of Wednesday, producers had harvested 47.8% of the area planted with soybeans, 13 percentage points behind the average harvest pace of the last five years, according to the exchange.

Meanwhile, the corn harvest for the 2023/24 cycle is 23.4% complete and has been progressing slowly over the last week due to high moisture levels in kernels following heavy April rains.

Last week, the Buenos Aires grains exchange slashed its estimate for the 2023/24 corn harvest by 3 millions tons to 46.5 tons, citing the effects of a damaging leafhopper insect plague and the impact of weather.

Argentina is the world's third largest corn exporter, after Brazil and the United States.

The rival Rosario grains exchange said in a slightly more positive report that the weather outlook was promising for the delayed harvest of soy lots in the country's core farm regions, with less rains expected and lower temperatures ahead.

It added some 82% of early soy and 55% of late soy had been collected, which was well behind the average for the same date in the last five seasons of 100% and 80% respectively.

"The good news is that the interruption of rains in the coming days will allow the harvest of the first crop to be completed before the end of the first half of May and without adding major headaches to producers," it said.

It also said an expected a cold front with widespread frosts would help reduce leafhopper insect numbers that have hammered the corn crop. "This is an opportunity to reduce the leafhopper population and lower the risk for the next corn planting." (Reporting by Maximilian Heath; Editing by Marguerita Choy)