March 13 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil, the world's third largest corn producer, may boost output 17 percent in the year ending February 2007, almost doubling the amount available for exports, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.

Brazil may produce 41 million metric tons of corn, from an estimated 35 million tons in the year ended February 2006 when the output was cut by drought. Exports may jump to 1.1 million tons from 600,000 tons, the agency said in a March 9 report.

Brazil's exports are poised to surge at a time when China, the world's second-biggest grower of corn, may turn into a net buyer of the grain. China may buy 50 times more corn next year than in 2006, as rising incomes enable more consumers to afford meat, boosting demand for animal feed made from grain, including corn, the USDA said in report dated March 1.

China may import 1 million metric tons of the grain in the year ending Sept. 30, 2007, from an estimated 20,000 tons this year, the report said.

Corn futures fell last week, dropping 2.1 percent to $2.345 per bushel on Friday. Hedge-fund managers and other speculators reduced their bets that prices will rise in Chicago corn futures when polled in the week ended March 7, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data on March 10.

Corn futures are trading 1.2 percent lower at $2.317 a bushel at 12:46 p.m. Tokyo time.

To contact the reporter on this story: Claire Leow in Jakarta at cleow@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 12, 2006 22:59 EST