Cairo – Brazil’s Agriculture, Livestock and Supply minister Marcos Montes (pictured above) talked with Egyptian authorities during his visit to the Arab country this week about facilitating import procedures to increase the Brazilian food supply to the local market, thus helping the Egyptians contain price hikes. Lowering the prices of products exported from Brazil was a request the Egyptians made during the trip.
Montes heard the request from the local businesspeople as Brazil is a major food supplier to the country. The minister had meetings with businesspeople that import animal protein from Brazil at the office of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) in Cairo. He stayed in Egypt on a mission from Monday (9) to Wednesday (11).
Agricultural commodity prices are on the rise as a result of the Ukraine-Russia war, and the Egyptian economy has suffered with the hikes as the Arab country imports a large part of the food it consumes. Local businesspeople have expressed concern about shortages of grocery staples.
In a press conference, the minister said he talked with the Ministry of Agriculture of Egypt about clearing new Brazilian beef and poultry plants, which could go a long way to increase the supply of products. “Increasing the supply from more plants would create a price competitiveness, and the prices would tend to drop,” he told journalists. Montes made a point of stressing that this would be done by preserving the good health conditions. “With the utmost health rigor,” he said.
A simplification was also requested in the renewal of meatpacking licenses. According to the minister, Egypt renews licenses every three years, expiring next October. “We spoke to the government; the Ministry of Agriculture said he is already arranging for the renovation. We asked for it to be done in another way, as we do with other countries, called pre-listing, in which we indicate the meatpacking plant, they inspect it, and we authorize it. It is faster,” he said.
Montes met with Egypt’s deputy minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (MoALR), Moustafa El Sayeed, and the minister of Supply, Ali El Moselhi, in Cairo this Tuesday (10). On Monday (9), he participated in meetings with the private sector, one with Egyptian fertilizer exporting companies representatives and another with animal protein importers.
Public tenders
The minister told journalists Brazil could also send other poultry cuts to Egypt. “These are propositions that could make the price a little easier,” said the Brazilian minister. He also spoke with local authorities on increasing access to information on bids so Brazil could submit more proposals on public tenders. The Egyptian government acquires its food stock through public tenders.
According to Montes, prices are spiking globally, beyond food. “Prices are high worldwide. With this conflict, prices have spiked, fertilizer prices have increased alarmingly, and therefore, the cost of food production, whether grain or protein, is also high,” he said. He said food is also becoming expensive in Brazil.
Montes also said he spoke to Egypt’s Minister of Supply lowering prices is a matter of supply. “Egypt has a large supply of fertilizers it can offer to Brazil, and Brazil has a large supply of food it can offer to Egypt,” he explained to journalists.
Increasing alternatives for purchasing Brazilian products could help to cope with prices. More fertilizers sales by the Egyptians to Brazil could balance the trade balance between the two countries, which is currently much more favorable to Brazil. Arab journalists asked the minister how the Brazil-Egypt trade could be more equal, and he pointed out fertilizers as one of the products Egyptians could sell more to Brazil.
Marcos Montes is on a mission to Egypt, accompanied by an agribusiness delegation, seeking to guarantee the supply of fertilizers to Brazil. A significant part of the fertilizers the Brazilian market imports come from Russia, which is at war with Ukraine, causing insecurity regarding supply to international markets and driving prices upwards.
In addition to Egypt, the minister has already visited Jordan, and this Thursday (12) and Friday (13), he will follow a schedule of meetings in Morocco, another supplier of fertilizers to Brazil. In Jordan, the local company Arab Potash (APC) indicated readiness to export more potash to Brazil, and the Jordan Phosphate Mines Company (JPMC) proposed the creation of a joint venture to produce with Brazilians and increase sales to the country’s market.
In addition to executives from the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, the government’s Secretariat for Strategic Affairs, and the ABCC, representatives of the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA), Brazilian National Agriculture and Livestock Confederation (CNA), Brazilian Organization of Cooperatives (OCB), halal certifier Cdial Halal, and food industries are also participating in the mission.
Read more on the mission:
- Egypt: Brazil’s Marcos Montes discussed food security
- Brazil’s Embrapa pens agreement with Egyptian institute
- Egypt supplies 3% of fertilizers imported by Brazil
Translated by Guilherme Miranda & Elúsio Brasileiro
