São Paulo – The Arab countries are significantly expanding their imports of beans from Brazil. According to figures disclosed by the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, and compiled by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Brasil had revenues of US$ 5.52 million with exports of beans to the region from January to July this year, growth of 276% over the same period in 2012, when revenues with these sales totalled US$ 1.47 million.
According to the da Embrapa Eastern Amazon researcher Francisco Rodrigues Freire Filho, beans of the caupi kind started being exported to the Arabs some four years ago. It is originally from Africa and was brought to Brazil during the colonial period. “It is an adaptation to this tropical area, with higher temperatures, semiarid areas,” he said. The Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation), according to Freire, has been working on genetic improvement of beans, investing in kinds of grain that better supply this importer market in the tropical area.
Caupi beans are much produced in northeastern Brazil, where there is expansion of cultivation, mainly in the Cerrado (Brazil’s savannah area), but is also much cultivated in states like São Paulo and Mato Grosso. Freire recommends cultivation of caupi as a good alternative to generate income in Brazil, as, in the Midwest, for example, it may be grown right after the soy crop, in February, making use of the rain in the period. In the Northest, in turn, it must be planted from January to March, when there is more rain.
The Arab country that bought most beans from Brazil this year up to July was Egypt, with US$ 4.5 million. In 2012 the Egyptians were responsible for the totality of purchases of the product among the Brazilians and Arabs. This year, however, Algeria purchased US$ 930,000 in beans from Brazil, the Emirates acquired US$ 80,000 and Lebanon, US$ 10,000. Last year, however, there was a drop in sales of beans from Brazil to the Arabs, when compared to the previous year. The drop was 23%, as revenues in 2011 as a whole were US$ 6.63 million.
Brazil does not export considerable volumes of beans yet, as the domestic market consumes significant volumes. In the first seven months of this year, for example, total revenues with international sales reached US$ 10.9 million. There was a drop of 20.2% over the same months in 2012. In the 2012/2013 crop, Brazil should produce 2.8 million tonnes of beans, according to figures supplied by the National Food Supply Company (Conab). There should be a reduction of 3% over the previous crop, when the crops generated 2.91 million tonnes.
*Translated by Mark Ament
