Brazilian agribusiness exports to China booming

Date:05-28-2020

In the first four months of this year, Brazilian agribusiness exports totaled US$31.40 billion, marking a 5.9% increase year-on-year. The growth of agribusiness exports resulted in an increase in volumes 11.1%, while the index price suffered a drop of 4.7%.

According to the Brazilian Department of Trade and International Relations (SCRI), these sales broke the record for the largest amount ever shipped between January and April. These numbers were responsible for almost half of all Brazilian exports (46.6%). Imports, in turn, reached US$4.57 billion (- 4.5%). As a result, the agribusiness trade balance surplus was at US$26.83 billion in this period.

Soybean grain exports broke records in this period, both in revenue (US$11.50 billion) and in quantity (33.66 million tons), despite the 4.2% drop in the average price for this product. China received 73.4% of Brazil’s grain exports during this four-month period, marking a 26.6% increase in relation to the same period last year.

Likewise beef exports were the most exported meat during this four-month period, accounting for 45.3% of all meat revenue. Fresh beef sales broke a record in terms of revenue (US$2.13 billion) and quantity (469,760 tons). China bought almost half of Brazilian beef exports in this period (49.6%), becoming the country that most contributed to the export growth in comparison to 2019.