(NAFB.com) – Brazilian soybean farmers will reap an even bigger crop in the 2024-25 season than previously expected, according to forecasts released by crop agency Conab, as deepening trade tensions are likely to increase demand from China. Reuters reports Brazil’s soybean crop, which farmers are harvesting now, is expected to total 167.37 million tons, about 1.3 million tons more than in Conab’s February forecast and above an all-time record of 155.7 million tons in the 2022-23 season. Conab data showed that more than 105 million tons of that production will be exported, up 7% from the previous season. Brazil, the world’s biggest producer and exporter of the oilseed, competes with the United States and Argentina in global markets and sells most of its soybeans to China, which processes it domestically for oil and livestock feed. Chinese demand for Brazilian exports is likely to increase after Beijing imposed import levies on U.S. agricultural and food products, including soybeans earlier this month, in response to Trump administration tariff hikes on Chinese goods.