Brazilian farmers had harvested 55% of the area planted for their second corn crop in the center-south region by the end of last Thursday, consultancy AgRural said on Monday, up 8 percentage points from the previous week.

Work in the fields still lags the previous season, the consultancy’s statement added, when at the same time 73% of Brazilian corn fields had been reaped.

Second corn represents about 75% of Brazil’s national corn output in a given year and is mainly exported to various destinations in the second half of the year. AgRural forecasts the 2023 crop to reach 102.9 million metric tons.

“Yield reports have been excellent in all states and reinforce the expectations of a bumper harvest,” AgRural said.