From soybeans to coffee: Brazil accounts for most of Latin America’s trade with Iran

Trade between Iran and Latin America remains limited, with Brazil serving as the region’s main commercial link.

While Iranian exports to the region are marginal, Latin America’s largest economy accounts for most of the food shipments destined for the Iranian market.

“Iran’s trade relationship with Latin America is minimal. In terms of exports, it is the continent with which Iran has the fewest ties,” Ángel Saz Carranza, director of the Esade Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics (EsadeGeo), told Bloomberg Línea.

He noted that of Iran’s total global exports, only $15.4 million were shipped to South America in 2024, mainly to Brazil. In the opposite direction, Brazil is also Iran’s main supplier in Latin America.

Diplomatic relations between Brazil and Iran date back to 1903.

Iran is a full member of the BRICS bloc, originally formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The group has since expanded to include Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia and Indonesia.

Brazil’s weight in trade with Iran

Bilateral trade between Brazil and Iran is concentrated largely in agribusiness, with the South American country exporting products such as soybeans (19.3% of the total) and corn (about 68%).

The following is a breakdown of corn exports to Iran between January 2022 and December 2025. The data is provided by Datamar:

Corn Exports to Iran | Jan 2022 – Dec 2025 | TEUs

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Other agricultural goods are exported on a smaller scale, including soybean oil and meal, coffee, sugar, beef and poultry. Brazilian exports to Iran total about $3 billion and account for roughly 13% of Iran’s imports.

Iran is considered the fifth-largest destination for Brazilian exports in the Middle East.

According to Francisco Américo Cassano, a professor of International Economic Relations at the Universidade Santa Cecília, Iran also maintains a strategic energy partnership in the region with Venezuela.

Cassano said a potential conflict between Iran and the United States could affect Brazil’s harvest, since the Middle Eastern country supplies fertilizers to the Brazilian market.

He also warned that any reduction in exports to Iran could generate surplus corn and soybeans that Brazil would need to redirect to other markets.

Still, “for Brazil, these exports represent 0.85% of the total. In short, Iran is directly irrelevant for Latin America,” Saz Carranza said.

Main destinations for Iranian exports

Data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) show that the main destinations for Iranian exports in South America in 2024 were:

• Brazil*: $10.1 million
• Chile: $1.51 million
• Peru: $1.21 million
• Argentina: $988,000
• Ecuador: $569,000
• Colombia: $545,000
• Bolivia: $292,000

According to the OEC, Iran’s main export products worldwide in 2024 included ethylene polymers ($1.88 billion), iron ore ($1.13 billion) and acyclic alcohol derivatives ($1.05 billion).

Other significant exports included dried fruits ($777 million) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), at $765 million.

The OEC said Iran’s top export destinations were China ($4.44 billion), Turkey ($2.45 billion), Pakistan ($1.2 billion), India ($1.06 billion) and Azerbaijan ($633 million).

Political ties

Carolina Pavese, who holds a PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics, told Bloomberg Línea that Iran maintains relevant political ties in Latin America, particularly with Venezuela, which is considered its main regional ally.

She said countries such as Ecuador and Bolivia have also had political alignment with Tehran in the past, although changes in government have led to shifts in those relationships.

Pavese, who teaches at FIA Business School and the Mauá Institute of Technology in Brazil, noted that these political affinities do not necessarily translate into significant trade flows.

She added that any effects from a conflict involving Iran would likely be felt in Latin America mainly through indirect channels, such as inflation and oil prices.

Regional currencies could also come under pressure, particularly the weaker ones, which tend to face greater depreciation risk during periods of global instability.

Oil shock risk

Given the relatively small volume of trade, the main channel through which a Middle East conflict could affect Latin America has so far been disruptions in flows through the Strait of Hormuz, the route through which about 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies pass.

“In Latin America, the impact is asymmetric: net oil exporters tend to benefit from improved terms of trade and fiscal revenues, although they may face political tensions over income distribution and subsidies,” Saz Carranza said in a note.

Net importers, particularly in the Caribbean, typically face deterioration in current accounts and rising inflationary pressures, “along with fiscal dilemmas if governments try to cushion the shock through fuel or electricity subsidies.”

*For 2025, Brazil’s Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services estimates the country imported about $84 million in Iranian products, mainly fertilizers, which accounted for 79% of the total.

By Daniel Salazar Castellanos for Bloomberg Linea

Sharing is caring!