New Delhi — Brazilian soybeans exports in March are projected to be higher year on year due to early harvest of the crop, said Brazilian national crop agency Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento on Thursday.

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The country, which is the world's top soybeans supplier, exported 9 million mt of soybeans in March 2018, data from Conab showed.

"Due to early crop plantation by growers in Mato Grosso and Parana, top two soybeans producing states, Brazil expects high harvest numbers in March this year," a source from Conab said.

The state of Mato Grosso had harvested 80% of the crop for the 2018-19 harvest year (September-August), compared with just 58% harvested in HY2017-18, Conab said. "In addition, it is estimated that in Mato Grosso, about 54% of the crop has been sold already in HY2018-19, compared with only 48% in HY2017-18," the agency said.

An additional factor boosting the Brazilian exports forecast is the favorable weather across the region, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

In February, "widespread, beneficial showers continued throughout most major agricultural areas [in Brazil]. Rainfall totaled 25 mm to 100 mm over most farming areas from Mato Grosso southward to Rio Grande do Sul; similar amounts were recorded in much of the northeastern interior, though pockets of dryness returned to the vicinity of southern Tocantins and western Bahia," the USDA said.

"The US-China trade war, stable international prices of beans, favorable exchange rates, and low port premiums are boosting Brazilian soybeans March exports projections," Conab said.

-- Asim Anand, aanand@spglobal.comnewsdesk@spglobal.com

-- Edited by Ikhhlaq Singh Aujla, newsdesk@spglobal.com