Syngenta earmarks $166 million to finance Brazil farmers via barter deals - executive

By Roberto Samora

Chinese-owned agrochemicals company Syngenta set aside a record 800 million reais ($166 million) to finance Brazilian farmers in 2023 via a barter scheme, its agriculture value chain director, Eduardo Menegario, said.

Barter generally involves delivery of farmers' future crops in exchange for inputs and is used to lock in input prices.

The novelty this year is that farmers doing business with Syngenta can exchange chemicals for grains that they have already harvested, Menegario told Reuters in an interview.

"It is a reverse in the cycle," he said. "Normally I do barter for what will be harvested next year, but now he (the grower) can use today's available grain to anticipate payment for next year's inputs."

Syngenta's revamped barter scheme could encourage Brazilian farmers to trade more of their grains, as selling by farmers has been slow for old and new crops, Menegario said.

Farmers may also use barter to buy fertilizers from Syngenta, as long as they buy the company's chemicals as well, he said.

Menegario said the grains farmers use in exchange for inputs are resold by Syngenta's trading arm, Nutrade, which can export directly to China.

Nutrade, founded 15 years ago to focus on coffee, is also keen on shipping cotton and corn, Menegario said.

For soy, Brazil's top export commodity, Nutrade projects trading volumes of around 900,000 metric tons in 2023, up from 240,000 tons last year and 110,000 tons in the previous year, he said.