Brazil agribusiness exports near USD 14.8bn in August

Thanks to increasing prices and volumes sold abroad, the Brazilian agribusiness industry earned a record USD 14.81 billion in August, up 36.4% from the same month in 2021. Agribusiness foreign sales accounted for 48.1% of the Brazilian export basket.

With USD 1.68 billion in purchases, agricultural product imports had the highest financial value since 1997. The cost was 34.5% higher than the August 2021 import of US$ 1.25 billion.

According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture (Mapa), the year-to-date results of corn and beef stood out in terms of value and volumes shipped.

The commodities that stood out the most in August alone were soybeans, bran, chicken meat, and pulp.

Corn 

Corn exports in August surpassed the record figure of US$ 2 billion for the first time in all months of the historical series, reaching US$ 2.03 billion. Two factors explain the result: the record volume of 7.5 million tonnes shipped in the month and the high average export prices (US$ 271 per tonne, +41.6% compared to August/2021 average prices).

The record 113.3 million tonnes (+30.1%) harvested in the 2021/2022 crop led August exports to – also – record levels.

The European Union was Brazil’s largest importer of corn in August 2022, with records catching up to US$ 495.77 million. In addition to the European Union, other leading markets were Iran, Egypt, Japan, and Colombia.

See below the track record of the volume of corn (HS 1005) exported by Brazil from January 2021 to July 2022. The data is from DataLiner.

Brazilian exports of Corn | Jan 2021 – Jul 22 | WTMT

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo

Beef and poultry meat

Beef accounted for 52.6% of the total value of meat products exported by Brazil. The country exported a quantity worth US$ 1.36 billion, also a historical record, up 8.7 in volume and 6.5% in average prices.

See below the track record of the volume exported of Brazilian beef (HS 0201, HS 0202) from January 2021 to July 2022. The data is from DataLiner.

Brazilian exports of beef (HS 0201; HS 0202) | Jan 2021 – Jul 2022 | WTMT

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Beef purchases from China are behind this record. The Asian economy increased its beef imports from US$ 633.60 million in August/2021 to US$ 852.83 million in August 2022 (+34.6%). The three main markets, other than China, were the United States, Chile, and Indonesia.

Chicken meat exports also reached record levels in August 2022, earning US$ 902.28 million in sales, up 36.3% compared to the US$ 661.99 exported in August/2012. Except for China, foreign sales grew across significant markets. China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and South Korea were the top five importers of Brazilian chicken meat.

Soybeans

Exports of soybeans amounted to 6.10 million tonnes (-6.0%), the equivalent of USD 3.8 billion (+20.8%), with prices rising on average in exports by 28.5% in the last 12 months.

China is the largest importer of Brazilian soybeans, accounting for 73.3% of total exports (4.46 million tonnes) or US$ 2.79 billion in August 2022. Iran, Vietnam, Spain, Japan, Thailand, and Turkey were among the other countries that imported products produced by the Brazilian soy industry.

Foreign sales of soybean meal rose to US$ 949.00 million in August this year, 45.8% higher than the US$ 651.08 million exported in August/2021. The volume exported increased by 19.1%.

However, the 22.4% rise in average export prices was the main factor behind the expansion of foreign product sales. The European Union remains the primary importer of Brazilian soybean meal.

Other markets that purchased the product, all of them in Asia, were Indonesia, Thailand, Iran, and South Korea.

Importing countries

China remains Brazil’s main commercial partner, with purchases totaling US$ 4.54 billion, a 19.5% increase over the US$ 3.80 billion acquired in August last year. Soybeans, beef, raw sugar cane, and pulp were the top four products exported to China.

According to government data, four Asian countries saw their share increase by more than one percentage point: Iran (from 2.5% share to 5.7%); Japan (from 2% share to 3.4%); Indonesia (from 1% share to 2.4%); and India (from 0.6% share to 2.0%).

Iran increased purchases of Brazilian agribusiness products by 217.7% between August/2021 and August/2022, from US$ 266.76 million to US$ 847.57 million in purchases. Iran imported four products: corn, soybeans in grains, raw cane sugar, and soybean meal.

To Japan, exports increased from US$ 220.27 million in August 2021 to US$ 501.27 million in August 2022 (+127.6%). The four main products were corn, fresh chicken, soybeans, and soybean meal.

Indonesia imported US$ 349.32 million in Brazilian agribusiness products (+211.6%). The three main products purchased were soybean meal, raw cane sugar, and beef.

Another country that increased participation was India, which went from US$ 60.64 million in imports of Brazilian agribusiness products in August/2021 to US$ 297.27 million in August/2022 (+390.2%). Two products had a large share: crude soybean oil and raw cane sugar.

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