Reuters
February 8, 2019
[excerpt]
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-grains-farmer-selling/brazil-farmers-halt-soy-sales-as-real-strengthens-china-buys-u-s-supplies-idUSKCN1PX1OOSAO PAULO (Reuters) - Farmers have halted sales of Brazil’s soybeans as port premiums swooned, the real currency strengthened and a pause in a trade war prompted top importer China to purchase soy from the United States, growers and trading companies said.
Poor market conditions are also affecting planting decisions for Brazil’s 2019/2020 crop that will be sown starting from September. Farmers generally buy inputs like seeds and fertilizers through barter arrangements with traders, used as a form of credit until the crop is harvested, and such deals are way behind schedule, farmers and companies said.
“The market is stalled,†said a soy buyer representing a large trading firm in Mato Grosso, Brazil’s top soy-producing state, who asked for anonymity to speak freely.
