SAO PAULO, May 10 (Reuters) - Family-owned Brazilian soy

crusher and soy byproducts exporter Bianchini was forced to halt

operations at its Canoas plant in Rio Grande do Sul state amid

severe flooding, Corporate Director Gustavo Bianchini told

Reuters on Friday.

The company makes soymeal and soyoil and also produces

biodiesel for sale on the domestic market.

Bianchini confirmed an adjacent warehouse with 100,000 tons

of soybeans was also flooded at the company's Canoas facilities,

which are close to the Sinos river and north of state capital

Porto Alegre.

It is unclear how much product can be saved from the

warehouse because waters have not come down yet, Bianchini said.

He explained flooding caused the grain to swell up inside the

storage facility, making the beans "double in size" when the

water was at its highest.

Speaking by telephone, Bianchini verified the authenticity

of a picture circulating on social media showing soybeans

pouring through the facility's breaking walls.

Bianchini said the company's Rio Grande soy crushing plant

and a nearby port terminal in the south of the state were

operating normally, even as weather forecasters predict heavy

showers for the region in coming days. He added that 70-80% of

all soymeal exported out of Rio Grande do Sul passes through

Bianchini's Rio Grande terminal.

Earlier on Friday, Bunge said it halted a soy crusher in Rio

Grande for fear of flooding. Bunge's plant neighbors

Bianchini's, the executive said.

As rains fail to let up, more problems await soy farmers,

traders and processors in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil's second

biggest soy producer after Mato Grosso state.

All companies are suffering because roads are blocked and

excess moisture impedes farmers from reaping what's left of the

soy in the fields, Bianchini said.

Bianchini's management plans to resume production at the

Canoas plant when waters recede. Currently, the water is

estimated to be between 30 cm and 70 cm high, Bianchini said.

Carlos Cogo, a grains analyst, said soy in flooded

warehouses will likely be lost or have to be reclassified as low

quality.

Bianchini said its losses would have been greater if the

company's two Canoas warehouses were full. They can hold

approximately 400,000 tons, he said.

The company's Canoas plant employs about 350 people and 80%

of the workforce lives in the neighborhood. Some went to

shelters as their homes were also completely inundated,

Bianchini said.

The plant has the capacity to process 2,500 tons of soybeans

per day and sends soymeal by barge to be exported out of Rio

Grande port.

Bianchini's Rio Grande unit crushes 3,400 tons per day, the

executive said.