Shipments of corn abroad in February totaled 1.751 million tons, 39.6% more than in the same month last year, when 1,254 million tons were exported. Last week, by the Secretariat of Foreign Trade (Secex) of the Ministry of Economy. The result reflects the movement of the summer cereal from the 2018/19 crop, which is being harvested in the country, and the remunerative prices offered by exporters for the product. Last month, several deals were reported, with shipments mainly from the southern ports. Last February, there was a major corn dispute between traders and domestic consumers, who offered more attractive prices to sellers at different times. In comparison with January, when 4,224 million tons were disposed of, last month’s volume is 58.5% lower. In the first month of 2019, part of the shipments corresponded to business involving the second corn crop of 2018. In the accumulated of the year, Brazil already exported 5.976 million tons of corn, 39.7% less than the 4.276 million tons shipped in the first two months 2018. Exchange income in February totaled US $ 309.9 million, up 54.8% from US $ 200.2 million a year ago, but down 57.8% from January this year, when foreign sales of corn reached US $ 734.1 million. In January and February, shipments of corn generated a total revenue of US $ 1.044 billion, 56% higher than the revenue of US $ 669.1 million obtained in the same period of last year. The average price of the cereal exported, considering the 20 working days of February, was US $ 176.9 per ton, 10.8% above the US $ 159.6 recorded in the same month of 2018 and 1.8% higher than the US $ 173.8 recorded in January.
Source: Revista Globo Rural