Brazil imports record amount of fertilizer so far in 2021; prices remain high

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil imported 36.8 million tons of fertilizers – considering the primary raw materials – from January to November 2021 and reached an absolute record volume, according to data compiled by analyst Jeferson Souza of Agrinvest Commodities.

In all of 2020, Brazilian purchases abroad were 30.19 million tons. However, the strongest increment in imports was in the simple ‘superfat’, which was 84.41% compared to last year in the first eleven months.

The analyst, however, points out that despite the increase in Brazilian demand has been the main responsible for feeding this increase in imports, the national production remained practically unchanged.

Russia continues as Brazil’s leading supplier, as 23.5% of total imports came from January to November originated there.

“The largest volume remains for potassium chloride. The fertilizer accumulates 11.82 million tons landed at Brazilian ports, against 10.33 million in 2020, an increase of 14.47%,” explains Souza. The total is the highest ever recorded for the period, and most of it came from Canada – 3.79 million tons. Next, come Russia and Belarus.

And as already signaled by the analyst to the Notícias Agrícolas, Germany has been standing out as one of the suppliers expanding its participation in the Brazilian market. In the 11 months of this year, Brazil brought 1.064 million tons of KCl.

German chloride stands out as Bieorrussian issues are the most critical in the current fertilizer market scenario. The sanctions imposed by the U.S. on companies in the country weigh on the market, and another company – Belarus Potash Company – should enter the list, in addition to Belruskali, which is already among those sanctioned by the Americans.

“The Belaruskali company was sanctioned in August by the U,S,, and the deadline for the end of negotiations is December 8. The company is responsible for producing more than 12 million tons of KCl per year, being the second-largest globally, behind only the Canadian Nutrien,” says Jeferson Souza.

Such measures could already cause severe impacts on the next Brazilian crop, among them the reduction of irrigation, leaving the crops more exposed, higher production costs – especially for tenants, besides the maintenance of the 2022/23 area and possible migrations to other crops.

The concerns are growing as potassium chloride is not the only fertilizer rising sharply. Urea is the following example. Brazil imported 6.23 million tons from January to November, up 13.9% year-on-year.

Qatar was the leading supplier of Brazil but still landed 8.1% less urea in the country than a year ago. Oman increased its participation here, with a 551% greater volume of the product arriving at Brazilian ports. In the same interval, Iran lost 24%.

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