Wheat crop from Paraná has a drop in quality and yield after Frost, says Deral

SÃO PAULO (Reuters)-The Brazilian wheat sector will face a crop with reductions in both quality and quantity in Paraná, after recent frost affects the main Brazilian producer state, the Department of Rural Economics (Deral) said in this Tuesday. According to the Paranaense government, the rate of the crop that has good conditions fell to 67%, while 24% has a medium level and 9% bad. At the end of June, before the climatic phenomenon, 95% of the crop had the best condition, but the Deral already warned of the possibility of frost. Even with the impacts of intense cold still not fully evaluated, the organ states that the production of this season will certainly not reach the initial forecasts of 3,230,000 tons, and can retreat to less than 2.9 million tons. " The condition begins to get too close to last year, when we produce 2.8 million tons, "said Carlos Hugo Godinho, Deral's wheat expert. "In a general way, we expect the number to be closer to last year than previously estimated." Still, the expectation is that the state has more than half of Brazil's production, which imports most of its wheat needs. In 2018, the wheat crop of Paraná faced problems with drought, while this year Pacific climate neutrality facilitated the entry of cold fronts and, consequently, the occurrence of frost. According to Godinho, the region of the state most exposed to frost is the north, whose planting occurred earlier, while the south is the least exposed. Exactly because of this, the next planned frost, stimulated by the arrival of a cold front this Tuesday, should not cause major losses, since the South has areas not susceptible to losses yet. In terms of quality, the analyst believes that the next data can still bring a reduction in conditions, but predicts a fine adjustment from medium to bad. "The good ones should remain in two thirds," he said. The Deral should disclose its monthly production report next week, including more details on the wheat situation.