Brazilian livestock farmers are “asking for help”
Sales of soybean reached almost one million tonnes in the past seven days, following the government’s decision to allow grain exporters to use 25% of their foreign currency earnings to buy soybeans. This measure comes after a historic drought that cut the last harvest in half, and aims to encourage more exports to bring dollars to Argentina. “Since the program to increase exports was announced, the amount of soybeans sold reached 951.2 thousand tonnes”, according to the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange. (Buenos Aires Cereal Exchange)
Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay request Argentina to stop restrictive measures related to the navigation through the Paraguay-Paraná waterway. The countries are partners in the river channel, which has more than 3,400 km and is essential for grain transportation. In retaliation against tolls charged on the Argentine waterway section, the president of Paraguay, Santiago Peña, decided to prevent Argentina from using the surplus energy produced by the Yacyretá hydroelectric power plant. “On Friday, we decided to use 100% of the power available to Paraguay and this clearly generated a cost to Argentina, which had to search for energy elsewhere”, according to Peña. (Government of Paraguay)
Almost 290 municipalities, in seven departments of Bolivia, are suffering from extreme drought conditions. In La Paz, potatoes, broad beans, and quinoa harvests, among others, failed due to lack of rain. (Ministry of the Environment)
Working population in Brazilian agribusiness in the 2Q of 2023 totaled 28.3 million people – a new record in the historical series, which started in 2012. As a result, the sector’s share of total employment in Brazil was 26.9%. (Cepea; CNA)
Agrex do Brasil, Mitsubishi Corporation’s agribusiness branch, launched its own brand of seeds, called Dimatre. The company’s initial production capacity is 600 thousand bags of soybean, which will be produced in Lagoa da Confusão, State of Tocantins, and Goiatuba, State of Goiás. (Agrex do Brasil)
Weather conditions increase the possibility of accidents in silos and warehouses. Dust accumulation and decomposition of grains in regions with hot and dry weather increase the risk of explosions and fires. According to Guilherme Frezzarin, agribusiness superintendent at the insurance company FF Seguros, the situation could worsen due to El Niño. “It has never been more crucial to be prepared to face these challenges. Silo and warehouse owners should be aware that higher global temperatures and a greater incidence of extreme weather events amplify risks”, said Frezzarin. (FF Seguros)
According to the CEO of the telecommunications company Tim Brasil, Alberto Griselli, the company has adopted the digitalization of agribusiness and logistics sector operations as its market strategy. “We chose markets where the lack of infrastructure is a business opportunity, so we are talking about agribusiness, we are talking about logistics. In these places we set up the infrastructure and started to obtain projects that allow customers to digitize their operations and increase their productivity”, stated Griselli. (Tim Brasil)
The National Transport Confederation filed a petition at the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) against the decision that allowed the creation of a transportation joint-venture made up of Amaggi, Bunge, Cargill, LDC and Sartco. When reviewing the appeal, Lenisa Prado, counselor at CADE, decided that the face should be assessed by the Administrative Court of Economic Defense. (CADE; CNT)
Brazilian livestock farmers are “asking for help”, according to the president of Ranchers Association of the State of Mato Grosso, Oswaldo Ribeiro Júnior. “It may seem unbelievable that such a strong and important sector of the Brazilian economy is asking for help… Despite breaking successive productivity records, having fed the world during the pandemic, putting food on the tables of almost a billion people, our sector is going through a moment very difficult, which has been going on for more than a year”, said Riberio, referring to the scenario of beef prices below production costs. (Acrimat)
77 tonnes of potatoes that entered Chile illegally were seized. The smuggled potatoes came from Peru and Bolivia, countries with which Chile does not have phytosanitary agreements for the entry of the product. Seizures of smuggled potatoes are concentrated in the regions of Arica, Parinacota, and Tarapacá. (SAG)
Agricultural Price Index of the Colombian Mercantile Exchange registered a growth of 10.2% in August compared to the same period in 2022. (BMC)
Minister of Agriculture, Jhenifer Mojica announced a US$142 million package to combat the El Niño until December 2023. (Ministry of Agriculture)
According to Jeffrey Fajardo, president of Porkcolombia, the per capita consumption of pork reached 13.2 kg in 2022, and is expected to reach 20 kg by 2030. (Porkcolombia)
Banana exports reached 260 thousand tonnes during the 1H of 2023. Shipments of organic bananas to Europe represented 88% of the total. (Ministry of Agriculture)
2023/24 soybean harvest is estimated at 10 million tonnes. “Now there is a lot of optimism in the farms. Farmers started planting, they are planting at different times to be able to mitigate possible climate effects, but only in December will we have a better expectation of how the crops will develop”, according to Sonia Tomassone, foreign trade advisor at the Paraguayan Chamber of Exporters and Cereal and Oilseed Traders. (Capeco)
Agriculture drives Paraguayan exports, which increased 20.4% in August. Trade balance reached a surplus of US$ 1.3 billion in the period. “The increase in exports is mainly explained by greater shipments of soybean, rice and soybean flour”, according to a report from the Central Bank of Paraguay. (BCP)
According to Ulises Ángeles, researcher at the La Molina National Agrarian University, all crops in the country will be affected by El Niño, including those that tolerate high temperatures. Ángeles warned about the appearance of sucking insects, caterpillars, mining flies, and of fungi in crops. According to the researcher, it is necessary to carry out “preventive climate management” to avoid bigger agricultural yield losses in Peru. (UNALM)
Agro-export company Grupo Virú announced the acquisition of Superior Foods International, with headquarters in California, USA. (Grupo Virú)
Country promotes the National Gender Plan, part of the Agricultural Policies of Uruguay. Despite being implemented in 2020, only 25% of the professionals in agribusiness are women. (MGAP)
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