SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL — Brazil may expand its corn acreage by around 1 million hectares in 2021, which could lead to record production, according to market analysts surveyed by Reuters.

The poll results, released on Feb. 24, projected this year’s corn production at 108.2 million tonnes on a planted area of 19.44 million hectares.

The Reuters survey forecast total output at 5.5% above the previous season’s crop of 102.5 million tonnes estimated by the government.

Earlier this month, the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service lowered its forecast for Brazil’s corn production in 2020-21 by 2 million tonnes to 105 million due to reduced yields in first-crop corn and a likely delayed planting for large portions of the second-crop safrinha corn.

With China importing corn at a record pace, Brazil is looking to take some of the market share from the United States, the world’s No. 1 corn exporter.

A recent surge in corn prices to a multi-year high is providing incentive for increased corn plantings in Brazil, analysts polled by Reuters said