Agribusiness registers surplus of $ 7.7 billion dollars in January
The Brazilian agribusiness trade balance registered in January of this year a positive result of $ 7.7 billion dollars. The sector's exports grew 57.5 percent in relation to the same month last year, reaching $ 8.8 billion dollars, while imports fell to $ 1.1 billion dollars, a 15.5 percent drop.
The total trade balance, which includes all sectors besides agriculture, registered a deficit of $ 214.4 million dollars, according to data released on Monday (Feb. 14) by the Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea).
When assessing the last 12 months, the increase was 23.1 percent in agricultural exports and 16.7 percent in imports, which has led to an agribusiness trade balance of $ 108.5 million dollars in this period.
According to Ipea researchers responsible for the study Ana Cecília Kreter, Fábio Servo and Rafael Pastre, January is traditionally a month with fewer shipments to agribusiness.
However, the level reached by the sector in January 2022 not only surpassed the performance of January 2021, but was 37.1 percent above the figures of January 2019, in the pre-pandemic period, when the country exported $ 6.4 billion dollars.
Soy and by-products
The export of soy and its by-products - soybeans, soy meal and soy oil – reached in January of this year $ 1.6 billion dollar, an increase of 5,223.9 percent, 44.7 percent and 1,974 percent in the values respectively, compared to 2021.
China was the main destination for Brazilian soybeans. The Chinese market imported $ 991.6 million dollars of the product from Brazil in January, due to insufficient domestic stock to meet domestic demand and the growing evolution of Chinese livestock farming.
Beef exports rose 46.2 percent in value and 25.7 percent in volume, in January this year. Corn, whose commercialization was hampered by the break in the second grain harvest in 2021, started the year with an increase of 45.6 percent in value and 16.5 percent in volume.
Chicken meat also registered in January an expansion of 42.8 percent in the value exported compared to January 2021. Brazil, which is the world's largest exporter of this animal protein, shipped $ 181 million dollars more in January this year, which also contributed for the good performance of the sector.
Imports
Brazil imported $ 202.2 million dollar less than last year, which corresponds to a 15.5 percent drop in the total amount of agribusiness products purchased from abroad.
Fifteen commodities (agricultural and mineral products) have been monitored by Ipea researchers. Twelve of them registered a drop in the volume imported in January and nine in value, compared to the same month last year.
Wheat continued to lead the list of imported products - $ 138.4 million dollars, registering a retraction of 10.7 percent. The drop in the amount of wheat imported (-22.1 percent) reflects the good Brazilian harvest in 2021, reads Ipea survey.
As with products on the export agenda, most imports registered an increase in average prices in January 2022 compared to 2021.
Apart from coffee, sugar, and cotton, the other products on the export list monitored by Ipea registered growth in value and volume compared to January last year.
Even so, shipments in the coming months will depend on the current harvest. “The impacts of the La Niña climate phenomenon and the production of Brazil's main competitors will also be decisive for the performance of the agribusiness trade balance in 2022”, said Ipea researchers.
