Data collected by Anec, the Brazilian association of cereal exporters, indicate that Brazil exported 14.9 million tonnes of soybeans in March, the most in any month on record, the Brazil-Arab News Agency reports.

The news agency quotes Anec as announcing on Tuesday that soybean exports in March were 12 per cent greater than a year earlier.

Anec figures show that China bought 72 per cent of Brazilian exports of soybeans in the first quarter of this year, Spain bought 5 per cent and Portugal 1 per cent, the Brazil-Arab News Agency says.

Last August Reuters news agency reported that a consulting firm, StoneX, had forecast that in the year ending September 2021 Brazilian production of soy beans would grow to 132.6 million tonnes, 8 per cent more than the year before and the most in any year yet, as farmers planted more land with the crop to meet strong demand in China.