2023-04-21 06:36:46
Brazil soon to be the world’s largest corn exporter
Brazilian corn is in high demand, especially with harvest problems in traditional exporters, such as the United States and Argentina and in Ukraine due to the war.
In the state of Mato Grosso (center-west), the winter is mild and the distribution of the rains allows a second harvest.
RAPHAEL MOSER
On his farm in Sinop, in the state of Mato Grosso, Ilson José Redivo finished sowing maize a few weeks ago. In this region considered the breadbasket of Brazil, the fields stretch as far as the eye can see and the calendar is well established for the farmer: he follows the two crops, soybean then corn, on “almost 100%” of his large plots. Corn is harvested in June.
This golden “small harvest” called “safrinha” has become the largest harvest of this cereal for a decade, ahead of the traditional harvest at the start of the year. It is thanks to her that Brazilian maize production should this year beat a new record. It would then allow Brazil to become the world’s leading corn exporter ahead of the United States, a first since 2013.
Brazilian corn production is expected to reach a total of 124.9 million tons (+10.4% compared to last year), of which 76.3% in the second harvest, according to the latest report from the National Company of supply (Conab) published this week. And this despite a “delay in the soybean harvest” due to “excess rain” in the state of Mato Grosso (center-west). There, the winter is mild and the distribution of the rains allows a second harvest.
The good share of transgenics
The rise in the selling price of corn, notably driven by the opening of ethanol factories for this cereal from 2017, has encouraged producers to invest more in “safrinha”, explains Mr. Redivo. “Maize in the second crop has become more attractive, so we have acquired more fertilizers, genetically improved seeds and agricultural machinery allowing faster and more precise sowing”, he underlines.
Transgenic varieties now occupy almost all Brazilian corn fields. With such production forecasts, “the country should increase its exportable surplus”, which will allow it to sell more abroad, points out João Pedro Lopes, of the firm of analysis of the raw materials markets StoneX.
Demand is also boosted by the opening of the Chinese market to corn, following the signing of an agreement between Brasília and Beijing in early 2022, specifies this specialist.
Challenges to overcome
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the South American giant might thus export 52 million tons of corn this year, once morest 31.9 million tons in 2022, and dethrone the United States, whose exports are expected to amount to 49 million tonnes.
“Brazil is establishing itself as the competitor of the United States and has the capacity to further increase its production. There is still a lot of land available for this crop”, on agricultural plots already open, “and our productivity can still progress”, assures Enori Barbieri, vice-president of the Brazilian Association of Corn Producers (Abramilho).
But to continue to improve its performance abroad, while meeting growing domestic demand, driven by the needs of the meat sector and the ethanol industry, the country-continent will have to meet several challenges. .
Brazil must “succeed in raising its investments in agricultural equipment”, in order to “accelerate sowing and harvesting”, and “continue to improve its logistical infrastructures to sell production”, warns Lucilio Alves, researcher at the Center d Advanced Studies in Applied Economics from the University of São Paulo (Cepea).
And the storage capacity is insufficient, reports Ricardo Arioli, of the National Agricultural Confederation (CNA): “In Mato Grosso, we noted a storage deficit of nearly 60% during the last harvests” of soybeans and corn.
AFP/Inaki Thinner
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