São Paulo – The fair Expoarroz, which ended this Friday (8th) in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, had a better than expected performance. The deals done with foreigner buyers reached US$ 7.8 million, according to data from the event’s organization and from the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil). Among the buyers that attended the business rounds there were companies from Switzerland, Costa Rica, United States, Jordan, South Africa, Italy, Grenada and Peru. Trading companies from India and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, also dealt the product.
According to Expoarroz’s coordinator, Fernando Curi Estima, the business rounds were better than in the previous editions and should stay on the growing path the new few years. He said that before discussing prices, volumes and terms, international clients visit the port of Rio Grande, research centers and producers. “That is essential for decision making”, he said to ANBA this Friday.
“In the previous editions, the project Brazilian Rice (executed as a partnership between Apex-Brasil and the Brazilian Rice Industry Association), created to promote rice and present it as a brand, as already done successfully in the Brazilian sectors of beef, poultry and wine. That helped to capture the international market’s interest. Besides, the dollar went up and helped business”, he said. Besides these factors, Estima says that producers are more and more globalized and prepared to export. “Today, we can even package the product in several languages, such as in Arabic”, he said.
The market of Middle East countries is one of the targets of Brazilian producers. “We want exports to reach between 15% to 20% of the volume produced in the country and for this Latin America and the Arab countries are two crucial markets because they have the culture of consumption”, he said. He pointed out that Africans also have an important role among clients due to their necessity of guaranteeing the food security of the people.
Brazil produced 12 million tons of rice per year and exports 10% of this amount. Rio Grande do Sul by itself produces 8.5 million tons. According to Estima, the sector expects to export up to 20% of its production in ten years.
Estima said that despite the Brazilian economy been going through difficulties, this year’s edition of the event, which is held every two years, overcame the expectation of organizers.
“We are surprised because we learned that entrepreneurs are searching for new markets and investing in technology. It’s in moments like these that one reassesses the processes”, he said. Although he doesn’t have the final data, Estima said that the number of visitors was more than 15,000 people. The exhibition took place from May 5th to the 8th. More than 20 Brazilian and foreign companies attended the business rounds. In total, 160 meetings took place within them.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
