Palm | Kelapa Sawit

BUENOS AIRES, March 1 (Reuters) - A leading Argentine grains exchange held its soy and corn harvest estimates steady on Thursday, saying the rains that soaked fields over the past
week have improved the outlook for soybeans.

Buenos Aires Grains Exchange forecast soy production at 46.2 million tonnes and expects a corn harvest of 21.3 million tonnes. Argentina is the world's no. 3 supplier of soybeans and
the second-biggest corn supplier after the United States.

Weeks of dry weather dimmed prospects for a record 2011/12 harvest in the South American country, which is also the top supplier of soyoil and soymeal.

Farmers will begin gathering soy in the coming weeks. Recent showers have brightened prospects for later-seeded crops, though they came too late for many corn plants and early-seeded soy.

"The moisture accumulated up to now is favoring growth and development of later-seeded fields and boosting yields," the exchange said in a weekly report.

Although showers also helped the worst-hit early-planted crops, yields will be reduced 15 to 20 percent due to the dryness in December and January, the exchange said. More rains
are expected starting on March 5.