Brazil's fertilizer imports thus far in 2022 increase 16.5%

Earlier this year, there were concerns if Brazil would be able to import enough fertilizers for their 2022/23 crops since Brazil imports 85% of its needed fertilizers and Russia and Belarus are two of Brazil's primary sources of fertilizers.

During the first five months of 2022, Brazil has imported 16.5% more fertilizers compared to the same period in 2021 according to the maritime agency Cargonave. From January through May, Brazil imported 16.6 million tons of fertilizers compared to 14.2 million in 2021. The increase occurred despite sanctions imposed against Russia and Belarus.

Importers front-loaded their fertilizer purchases earlier this year. Grain and fertilizers were not part of the sanctions levied against Russia and Belarus, but some financial institutions were sanctioned, which made hiring vessels and paying for the fertilizers more complicated. Brazil was able to continue receiving fertilizers from Russia by routing payments through non-sanctioned financial institutions.

May fertilizer delivers totaled 3.36 million tons, which was 15,000 tons more than May of 2021. The amount of fertilizers imported into Brazil from January through May totaled 5.5 million tons of potassium, 2.3 million tons of urea, and 1.6 million tons of phosphorus.

Fertilizers continue to arrive, and it appears that Brazil will probably have adequate supplies of fertilizers to plant the 2022/23 crops.