São Paulo – Brazilian agribusiness exports may exceed US$ 100 billion in 2012. The forecast was made by the minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, Mendes Ribeiro Filho, this Tuesday (10th) in Brasília while announcing the industry’s results in 2011.
“In order to reach US$ 100 billion we need an increase of only 5.7% in exports, which is a feasible rate,” said the minister, according to Agencia Brasil. In 2011, Brazilian agribusiness exports reached US$ 94.59 billion, a figure 24% higher than in 2010 (US$ 76.4 billion), the industry’s best result since 1997.
The products that drove the increase in foreign sales the most were soy bean, soy chaff and soy oil. These accounted for 38.7% of the US$ 18.19 billion increase in total agribusiness sales. In comparison with 2010, soy bean exports rose by 47.8% in value, from US$ 11.03 billion to US$ 16.31 billion, thanks to an average price increase of 30.3%. The volume shipped increased by 13.5%. In 2011, exports of soy chaff and soy oil reached US$ 5.69 billion and US$ 2.13 billion, respectively.
Next were sugar and ethanol, whose exports generated revenues of US$ 16.18 billion in 2011, 17.45% more than in 2010. The rise was due to a 29.9% increase in sales price, as the volume sold dropped by 9.6% during the period, from 29.52 million to 26.7 million tonnes.
The third leading export item last year was meats. Exports reached US$ 15.64 billion, 14.8% more than in 2010. In this case, the price increase also accounted for the increase in revenues. The product’s average price rose by 16.6%, compensating a 1.6% decline in volume shipped when compared with 2010. The meat industry answered to 16.5% of agribusiness exports in 2011. The highlight was poultry, whose exports reached US$ 7.49 billion, 19.9% more than in the preceding year.
Forest products and coffee ranked fourth and fifth among agribusiness export products in 2011. Exports of the former generated revenues of US$ 9.64 billion, a 3.8% increase, and foreign sales of the latter stood at US$ 8.73 billion, 51.5% more than in 2010.
Brazilian imports of agribusiness products reached US$ 17.08 billion, 28% more than in 2010. As a result, the agribusiness trade balance showed a US$ 77.51 billion surplus in 2011.
Targets
Asia and the European Union were the leading targets of Brazilian agribusiness exports. These two blocs combined accounted for 57.4% of the country’s exports, a share equivalent to US$ 54.34 billion. Next came the Middle East, with a 10.1% share; the Nafta countries (United States, Mexico and Canada), with 8.5%; and Africa, with 8%.
Crop
The 2011-2012 grain crop should see a 2.8% decline as against the 2010-2011crop. In 2010-2011, 162.95 million tonnes of grain were harvested. The current crop should reach 158.43 million tonnes. The estimate was issued by the National Supply Company (Conab) this Tuesday. The main reason for the decline is severe drought in Southern Brazil.
The main cultures are maize and soy. The two combined account for 83% of the entire crop, at 130.96 million tonnes. The planted area for maize should be 50.44 million hectares, 1.1% more than in the preceding crop. The planted areas for rice and bean are expected to decrease.
On the opposite direction of other products, the coffee crop should increase by 12.6% to 20.2% as against the preceding crop, and may reach 48.97 million to 52.27 million bags processed. Should the increase prove true, this will be the largest crop ever in the country, exceeding the 48.8 million bag record set in 2002-2003. The new crop is estimated to be 5.22% larger than the 2009 crop.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
