Brazil’s agribusiness exports total US$11.3 billion in July as prices rise – Ministry of Agriculture

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil’s agribusiness exports reached US$11.29 billion in July, up 15.8% over the same month last year, driven by rising commodity prices, the Ministry of Agriculture said Wednesday.

According to the Ministry, the price index of agricultural and livestock products exported by the country jumped 28.5% in the comparison between July 2020 and July this year, offsetting a 9.9% drop in the quantum index of exports.

“Despite the drop in exported volume, the sharp increase in international prices of exported products led the value to reach a historic high,” the Ministry said in a statement, citing an analysis by its Secretariat of Trade and International Relations.

As an example of the trend, the Ministry cited soy shipments, Brazil’s main export product, which dropped from about 10 million tons in July 2020 to 8.7 million last month, but posted an increase of 32.5% in the average price on the same comparison, leading to an export balance of about US$4 billion.

The Ministry also highlighted that beef, pork and chicken exports for the first time in history surpassed the US$2 billion mark in a single month, totaling US$2.03 billion in July, driven by the increase in average export prices (+24%) and also by the exported volume (+8.8%).

Agribusiness contributed 44.2% of total Brazilian exports last month, according to the Ministry.