Heavily influenced by corn, agro exports reach US$8.4bn in October

Foreign sales of corn registered record value and quantity exported for the month of October. Corn exports were of US$1bn (+91.3%). The exported quantity of grain was also hit a record, from 3.1m to 6.14m tons exported (+97.6%).

According to the Secretariat of Commerce and International Relations of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply (Mapa), the record corn crop of almost 100m tons, according to a survey by Conab (September/2019), was the main factor that allowed the increase of foreign sales of the cereal.

Another product that deserves a highlight in October exports was cotton. Exports of cotton (not carded or combed) reached US$440.73m (+43.7%), corresponding to 273,400 tons.

In regards to meat, US$1.53bn was exported in October. Beef exports stood out, with record value and quantities at US$806.61m (+30.4%) and 185,400 tons (+14.9%). Pork sales also rose, reaching US$148.51m (+38.5%) and 67,100 tons. On the other hand, foreign sales of chicken meat fell by 7.8% to US$529.13m and 326,900 tons (-8.3%).

Total Exports

Agribusiness exports were of US$8.41bn in October this year, up 0.8% from US$8.35bn in the previous year. The increase in exports was due to the increase in the quantity exported (+6.8%). On the other hand, the export price index decreased by 5.7% compared to October 2018.

Imports of agribusiness products also grew, from US$1.19bn in October 2018 to US$1.21bn in October 2019 (+1.3%).

Agribusiness’s share in the October trade balance was 46% of total exports.

The following chart, based on Datamar DataLiner data, shows Brazilian corn exports by quarter:

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