Brazil: agribusiness exports drop 5.6% in February to US$9.89 billion

Brazilian agribusiness exports reached US$9.89 billion in February, a 5.6% drop concerning the same period last year, informed the Ministry of Agriculture on Wednesday, 15.

The three products that registered the most significant reduction in export volumes were: soybeans (-1.07 million tonnes), raw cane sugar (-615,960 tonnes), and wheat (-283,530 tonnes).

On the opposite end, the outstanding products in exports were corn, cellulose, soybean meal and oil, and chicken meat.

Imports of agribusiness products, in turn, rose from US$1.25 billion to US$1.37 billion in the comparison between February last year and February 2023 (+7.2%).

According to the ministry, there was a decrease in exports due to the reduction in soybean export volumes, influenced by the delay in harvesting, despite the record production estimated by the National Supply Company (Conab) at 151.4 million tonnes for 2022/2023.

Sugar and wheat also showed a drop in external sales due to the lower domestic availability for export because of concerns about the Argentinean harvest in the case of wheat and lower sugar cane crushing due to climate issues.

According to the note, beef also had an unfavorable performance due to the international price reduction and decreased export volume.

“One of the reasons for this drop in volume is the atypical case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (mad cow disease) reported on February 22 to the World Organization for Animal Health (OMSA). Due to this case, exports to China were temporarily suspended from February 23,” the ministry said in a statement.

“In effect, external beef sales to the Asian country fell by 15,350 tonnes in February 2023, reaching 71,720 tonnes.”

In addition, the volume exported to the United States, Chile, and Egypt decreased.

In the year-to-date, Brazilian agribusiness exports reached a record for the first two months of the year, at US$20.1 billion, with the highlight being shipments of soybean meal and oil, chicken and pork meat, corn, and cellulose, according to the ministry.

With information from InfoMoney