2023-11-14 20:10:36
On November 10th, Wheat Day was celebrated. And cereal producers have a lot to celebrate: according to a survey by the Brazilian Food Industry Association (ABIA), production in the country increased from 5.1 million tons to 10.4 million tons throughout 2023, according to projection from the National Supply Company (Conab), which reduced dependence on imported raw materials from 56% to 40%. The current harvest numbers can be explained by the good harvests in the Central-West, Northeast and Southeast, offsetting the drop in the main producing states, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul, due to heavy rains during the harvest period, which occurs in spring.
Last year, revenue from the wheat milling and derivatives manufacturing industry in all its segments (bakery, biscuits, pasta, etc.) was R$72.4 billion, which corresponded to 6.7% of total revenue of the food industry, of R$1.075 trillion.
The president of ABIA, João Dornellas, recalls that, in February 2022, with the start of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, important wheat producing and exporting countries in the world, wheat prices on the international market rose even faster, rising 50 % in less than a month, around twice the pre-pandemic level.
“Since then, wheat prices have continued to show high volatility, due to the uncertainties associated with the war, with a slow and gradual deceleration trend. In this global context of restricted supply, national production has shown a growth trend, contributing to improving the internal availability of grain and minimizing the rise in prices for mills and the food industry, benefiting the Brazilian population”, reinforces the director.
He recalls that over the last four years, the international wheat market has undergone profound changes. During the most critical phase of the pandemic, production and maritime transport costs rose sharply, which put pressure on product prices in all countries.
Bakery sector is the largest consumer
Data from the Brazilian Wheat Industry Association (Abitrigo) – which represents the national wheat milling industry – shows that 43% wheat flour is intended for the bakery sector in Brazil. The food industry consumes another 22%, in the production of pasta (12%) and biscuits (10%). And a further 18% are directed to packaging-only companies (1 kg and 5 kg packages), with the remainder directed to different segments.
Also according to Abitrigo, there are 144 milling plants in Brazil, 31% of which are in Paraná, which leads national production. The state crushed 3.7 million tons in 2022, which represents 30% of the total of 12.5 million in all of Brazil – a volume that has remained more or less stable since 2019.
For this year, the executive president of Abitrigo, Rubens Barbosa, believes that Brazil is heading towards a significant increase in wheat production. “With advances in technology and genetics, the cereal has taken root in new areas across Brazil, mainly in the Cerrado and Bahia, where winter crops are traditionally not produced. This gives us optimism for the future, in the sense that we will depend less and less on imported wheat.”
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