Overview by AgriBrasilis (08/26 – 09/01)

 Losses of almost US$ 1 billion in Chile

Argentina’s forest area has 33.1 million hectares of native forests and 1.2 million hectares of planted forests, which is approximately 12% of the country’s total area. (Senasa)

Seized four tonnes of plums smuggled from Spain. The fruits were being transported by truck from Buenos Aires and were seized at the Patagonia Zoo-Phytosanitary Inspection Barrier. This is considered a “high sanitary risk”, as illegal importation of plums can facilitate the entry of the fruit fly in regions declared as free of this pest. (Senasa)

From January to July, Argentina imported 7.2 million tonnes of soybean, surpassing, in seven months, the record from 2018, of 6.4 million tonnes. It is estimated that the idle capacity of crushing facilities in the country could reach 70% by March of 2024. (Rosário Commerce Exchange)

Minerva Foods and its subsidiary Athn Foods Holdings closed a deal of US$ 1.51 billion to acquire 16 cattle and sheep slaughter facilities from Marfrig in Brazil (11), Argentina (1), Chile (1) and Uruguay (3). Thus, Minerva will increase its slaughtering capacity by 12.9 thousand head of cattle and 6.5 thousand head of lamb per day, an increase of 43%. Minerva’s stock prices fell 18% after the transaction, while Marfrig’s stock prices rose 10.70%. (Minerva Foods)

On August 30th, the Brazilian Development Bank – BNDES made available in advance an additional US$ 1.03 billion for the Agricultural Programs of the Federal Government for the 2023/24 Harvest Plan (Brazilian Government financing program). US$ 200 million will finance agricultural machinery credit and US$ 340 million is for family farming. “It is the biggest amount given by BNDES in the history of the Harvest Plan, for commercial agriculture and family farming…”, said Aloizio Mercadante, president of BNDES. (BNDES)

Brazilian stocks of orange juice on June 30th, a period that marks the transition from the 2022/23 to the 2023/24 season, reached  84,745 tonnes, a decrease of 40.7% when compared to the previous year. This is the lowest level since the beginning of the historical series. (CitrusBR)

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira, said Brazil will not accept the current terms of the Mercosur agreement with the European Union. “If we blindly accept this, the results will even interfere in projects that could be financed. We want to move forward with the negotiation, and they are interested in finding a common denominator. We have already included issues that are of interest to us and on September 17th we will send our answer”, said Vieira. (FPA)

Milk prices continue to fall. According to Cepea, the more competitive prices of imported dairy products compared to local products have kept imports high. Total imported volume surpassed 185 million L, an increase of 71%. (Cepea)

Costs of cotton farming should decrease by 16.19%. For farmers to be able to cover their operating costs in the 2023/24 season, a minimum harvest of 104.72 arrobas (an arroba is 15kg) per hectare will be required. (Senar-MT)



Approximately 274,000 hectares were affected by storms in the south-central region of the country, resulting in losses of almost US$ 1 billion. (Ministry of Agriculture)

The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock requests farmers to get prepared for the El Niño, in order to minimize the consequences of the climate phenomenon. “We reiterate the appeal for farmers to implement techniques that allow the capture and efficient use of water, in addition to forage conservation. Farmers should use all possible resources in their farms to depend less on external factors”, said the Minister of Agriculture, Víctor Julio Carvajal. (Ministry of Agriculture)



According to Raquel Buenrostro, minister of economy, the government will not change the decree that prohibits GMO corn in the country. “It’s already written… it’s already in the decree. That is why we were cautious to define that it is only corn for human consumption,” said Buenrostro. (Ministry of Economy)

Saudi Arabia will import dairy products from six Uruguayan companies. (Ministry of Agriculture)


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