Driven by soybeans and by-products, meat, forest products, sugar, and coffee, Brazilian agribusiness exports reached US$ 13.6 billion in April, 39% higher than in the same month last year, pursuant to data compiled by SECEX (the Ministry of Agriculture’s foreign trade secretariat) According to the file, it was the first time in history that agribusiness shipments generated more than US$ 10 billion in April. Even with the jump, the sector’s share in the country’s total exports fell to 51.2%, down from 55.4% in April 2020, since other export segments also had a significant increase. As imports increased 13.5%, to US$ 1.1 billion, the agribusiness monthly surplus grew 42% to reach US$ 12.4 billion. Regarding meats, January 2021 should underperform January 2020, but exports have been growing gradually and March registered an increase of 10.89% compared to March 2020. Brazilian soy exports, on the other hand, registered volumes lower than 2020 in the first two months of 2021. In March, there was an increase of 9.47% in the volume exported in relation to March 2020. A powerhouse for the sector’s exports, soybeans and their derivatives recovered from the slower pace of the first months of the year caused by the delay in the harvest of the grain in this 2020/21 harvest, and increased 43.5% in April, to US$ 8.1 billion. Shipments of soybeans registered record volumes (17.4 million tons) and revenue (US$ 7.2 billion), also inflated by the 22.3% increase in the average price of shipments. China alone absorbed 72.7% of the volume of the grain, in addition to also boosting sales of soy oil.
Sources: Valor Econômico/Datamar News