São Paulo – The Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply announced this Friday
(11th) that the gross value of Brazilian agricultural output may reach R$ 305.3 billion (US$ 149.7 billion) in 2013. If it proves true, the figure will represent a 26.3% increase over last year.
The estimate considers the main crops in the country, and is calculated by the ministry based on data from the National Supply Company (Conab) and the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE), which measure agricultural output periodically. The information used in the projection concern the ongoing month.
“The result is largely due to the production value of soy, whose current crop is large and prices, high,” said the ministry’s Strategic Planning coordinator, José Garcia Gasques, according to a press release. Soy is by far the product with the highest bearing on the calculation, and should account for 34% of total production value.
According to the ministry, most of the products surveyed should see an improvement over 2012, except for cotton and coffee. “Favourable prices and increased output expectations are the reason,” said Gasques.
In addition to soy, crop values are expected to go up for tomato (72%), orange (70.9%), apple (36.6%), beans (31.6%), onion (31.2%), wheat (25.8%), maize (22.3%) and items such as rice, potato, sugarcane and tobacco.
In terms of regions, output is expected to increase by 34.9% in the Midwest, 13.6% in the Northeast, and 12.4% in the North of the country. Output should be down 1.8% in the South and 4.5% in the Southeast.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
