Trade of balance in agribusiness sees $87.76 bi surplus in 2020

China was the top destination of products exported by Brazil

Published on 13/01/2021 - 14:27 By Luciano Nascimento - Brasília

Brazilian exports in agribusiness added up to $100.81 billion in 2020, up 4.1 percent from 2019. Imports, however, showed a 5.2 percent decline, reaching $13.05 billion. The increase in exports and the slip in imports led to an $87.76 billion surplus for the sector. The figures come from the country’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply.

Agribusiness is reported to have accounted for 48 percent of Brazilian exports in 2020. The expansion stems from a 9.9 percent growth in the amount of products, as the price fell 5.3 percent.

The five main exporting sectors in Brazil’s agribusiness last year were the soy complex (beans, oil, and meal, with $35.24 billion and 35 percent), meats ($17.16 billion and 17 percent), forest products ($11.41 billion and 11.3 percent), the sugar-alcohol complex ($9.99 billion and 9.9 percent), and cereals, flours, and preparations ($6.89 billion and 6.9 percent). Combines, these sectors amounted to 80 percent of exports in agribusiness in 2020, against the 78.9 percent posted in 2019.

In the case with the soy complex, grain sails represented 81.1 percent of the exported value and reached the second highest amount in this time series, with $28.56 billion and 82.97 million tons, surpassing 2018’s $33.05 billion and 83.25 million tons.

China was the main destination of products exported by Brazil’s agribusiness in 2020, as it bought the equivalent of $34 billion—up 9.8 percent from 2019’s $30.96 billion. China’s share in sales from Brazilian agribusiness went up from 32 to 33.7 percent. In other words, China bought over a third of everything exported by the sector in 2020.

The second main destination was the US, with the total of $6.96 billion and a decline of 2.9 percent, which led to a slip in its share from 7.4 to 6.9 percent.

The Netherlands came third in exported value, with $4.07 billion and an increase of 3.7 percent, which was not enough to keep up the outcome from 2019, dropping to four percent.

Translation: Fabrício Ferreira -  Edition: Fernando Fraga / Nira Foster

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