Brazil increases its imports of red winter wheat from the US

According to data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Brazil´s imports of red winter wheat from the United States in 2020 are already at 419,800 tonnes.  In the last week alone, 63,500 tonnes of the cereal were imported. The volume is Brazil’s second-largest wheat acquisition from the US in 2020, just below the import of 69,000 tonnes in late April.

The National Supply Company (Conab) estimates that Brazil will import a record 7.3 million tonnes of wheat this year from all sources, given the steady consumption of cereal derivatives (such as breads and pasta) amid the pandemic of coronavirus.  Brazil has already imported around 3.5 million tonnes of wheat in the first half, up just over 150,000 tonnes on 2019 volumes, with Argentina as the main source, supplying 3.12 million tonnes, compared to 2.96 million tonnes in the first half of last year.  The United States appears in second, with 172,000 tonnes (versus 72,000 tonnes in the first half of 2019), according to import data from the Brazilian government.

Other suppliers in the semester included Paraguay and Uruguay, with 97,000 and 80,000 tonnes, respectively. Russia should also appear as an exporter to the country this year, taking advantage of the fact that Brazil set an additional quota of 450,000 tonnes in June to import wheat from outside Mercosur without a Common External Tariff (TEC) until November, which increased the annual fee-free volume to 1.2 million tonnes.

Source: Reuters

Sharing is caring!