São Paulo – Cooplantio, the no-tillage farmers cooperative, from the city of Eldorado do Sul, plans to return to selling and exporting rice to the Arab countries. The cooperative shipped to Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia last year and the year before, but has not shipped to the region in 2013. Expectations, however, are to sign a contract with Iraq still this year and to ship the product in 2014, according to the Food Unit manager at Cooplantio, Camilo de Oliveira.
“The entire [rice] industry is interested in working with the Arab market, it is demanding on quality and pays for it,” said the manager. Cooplantio exported around 150,000 tonnes of rice, approximately 10% of domestic shipment in the sector, in 2012 and 2011. But in 2013 international sales dropped to 100,000 tonnes. There was not expressive growth in the crop and prices on the domestic market are up.
Cooplantio plans to expand export volumes next year, based on a forecast of greater cultivated area and on the possibility of the dollar exchange rate being above R$ 2.30 for each dollar. Below this level, Brazilian rice can compete pricewise in markets closer to the Americas, but not in those supplied by the Asians.
However, the cooperative from Eldorado do Sul exported to Africa – Angola, Nigeria e Benin -, though at lesser volumes. Cooplantio also sold to Venezuela, Nicaragua, Honduras and Peru, and to some European nations. Next year, Oliveira also believes in the possibility of exporting to new markets in the Arab world, as well as to returning to sales to the countries in the region that it has already supplied.
Cooplantio exports hulled rice, but most of the product is processed. To the Arab world, the rice shipped is white, and to the African nations, like Nigeria and Benin, the parboiled product is shipped. The Europeans prefer whole rice, according to the manager.
Exporter
Cooplantio started exporting rice to Europe in 2009. From then on, it has already supplied 28 countries. The strategy was adopted so that producers would not be as vulnerable to prices on the domestic market and to abrupt variations in product prices. The foreign market is also an important alternative, as the production of rice of Brazil is on the rise. “Productivity has grown,” said Oliveira.
The cooperative has eight branches in the state of Santa Catarina, one in Paraná and 30 in Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil’s three southern states). It has 30,000 associates and works in partnership with them, offering from the inputs necessary for cultivation, like seeds and fertilizers, to technical assistance and trade of the product. A total of 150 agronomists assist the farmers.
Apart from rice, Cooplantio also produces soy, wheat and maize. But rice, with a traded volume of 300,000 to 400,000 tonnes a year, is the main export product. The cooperative receives the product from associates and processes it. On the domestic market, the rice is sold under brand Direto no Prato.
Contact
Cooplantio
Telephone: (+55 51) 3481-3333
Site: www.cooplantio.com.br
Email: camilo.oliveira@cooplantio.com.br
*Translated by Mark Ament
