Syngenta will export directly to China a part of the soy and corn it receives from Brazilian producers via barter operations, a mechanism through which it negotiates seeds and pesticides in exchange for grains at harvest. The company already exports coffee and cotton in this same model, dubbed “boutique trading”, through the Nutrade platform. In the case of soybeans, the first loads should leave Brazil between April and May, according to Dong Guo, global director of the Agricultural Value Chain initiative. André Savino, marketing director for Syngenta Brasil, says that there is no competition with the trading companies. “The operations comprise only grains related to the technologies we supply”, he says. The company does not disclose the volumes it hopes to achieve, arguing that they will depend on the interest of producers. But a third of about US$ 1 billion of sales in Brazil in 2019 originated from barter. The priority given to China at this time is due to the potential for demand and the proximity to the Chinese market – Syngenta was acquired by ChemChina in 2017.
Sources: Estadão / Datamar News