Brazil: Exports of agribusiness products exceed US$ 10 billion in January
18 March 2023, Brazil: Value of foreign sales of the sector in the first month of the new government is a record of the entire historical series for the months of January Agribusiness exports reached US$ 10.23 billion in January this year, an increase of 16.5% compared to the same month last year. According to the Secretariat of Commerce and International Relations (SCRI) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Map), it is the first year in which the value of exports of the sector exceeds US$ 10 billion in January. Agribusiness foreign sales represented 44.4% of the total value exported by Brazil.
According to the SCRI, the record value occurred due to the increase in average export prices (+10.5%) and the quantity shipped (+5.5%). The exported products that stood out the most in this first month of the year were corn, meat (beef, pork and chicken) and sugar.
Agribusiness imports recorded US$ 1.54 billion in January, an increase of 38.3% compared to January 2022 (US$ 1.12 billion). The value does not include inputs used in agricultural production, such as fertilizers, pesticides, parts and equipment.
Corn – Corn, which is the main export product of the cereals, flours and preparations sector, was responsible for US$ 1.8 billion: an increase of 166.4% compared to the previous January. According to SCRI, the exported volume was also a record for the months of January, with 6.2 million tons.
Some factors influenced the result: slow pace of soybean harvesting, which enabled transport logistics for cereal; the continuity of the conflict in Ukraine, which reduced the production of a major world supplier of corn, and demand from China, from the authorization for marketing in November last year.
Meat – External sales of meat reached almost US$ 2 billion, also a record for the months of January. Beef corresponded to US$ 848 million and the volume exported was 182,000 tons. China continues as the largest importer of this protein, with an acquisition of 57% of the exported value (US$ 483 million). Other important markets were the United States, European Union, Chile, Hong Kong and Egypt.
Chicken meat also obtained favorable performance, with record volume and high average export price: US$ 839 million and 409 thousand tons. The main destinations were China, Japan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Pork, on the other hand, totaled US$ 210 million in January of this year, also a record value for the months of January. China bought more than half of this amount.
The strong Chinese demand for animal protein was determined by the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration period, which began at the end of January.
Sugar – External sales of sugar totaled US$ 870 million, up 68%. The highlights were the following markets: Algeria, Nigeria, Morocco, Egypt and China.
Soy – The soybean complex (grains, bran and oil) exported US$ 1.5 billion, a decrease of 26.6%. The sector was influenced by the low availability of soybeans due to the slow pace of the harvest, due to the volume of rainfall. Even so, the National Supply Company (Conab) estimates a record production of 152.9 million tons of grain, in the last survey released in February.
The exported volume of soybeans in grains stood at 840,000 tons (-66%). Of this total, China acquired 61% or 509 thousand tons. Russia, Thailand and Vietnam were also major importers of Brazilian soybeans.
Soybean meal totaled $765 million exported and soybean oil $267 million. Both record results for January.
