Drought in the Amazon Basin could affect grain exports
Lack of rainfall resulted in slower corn planting. An area of 10.4 million hectares is estimated for the 2023/24 season, a reduction when compared to the previous season, which had an area of 10.5 million hectares. For wheat, the estimate for the planted area in 2023/24 is 5.6 million hectares. Lack of humidity also affected wheat farming, resulting in lower plant growth and yields. (Ministry of Agriculture)
Ministry of Agriculture should provide approximately US$ 4 million to pig farmers due to the losses caused by the high costs of production, accentuated by the different exchange rates for soybeans and corn. (Ministry of Agriculture)
Klabin reported a net profit of US$ 48.97 million for 3Q of 2023, a drop of 88% when compared to 2022. The company was impacted by a decrease in paper and cellulose prices and by lower sales. (Klabin)
Raízen, the largest player in the sugar and ethanol market in Brazil, increased sugarcane crushing to approximately 37.5 million tonnes in the 2Q of 2023/24, compared to 26.8 million in the previous period. This represents a growth of almost 40% over the 1Q of 2023/24, due to more sugarcane availability, favorable weather, accelerated production pace and more crushing days. (Raízen)
SLC Agrícola estimates sales of 1.25 million bags of soybean seeds for 2024, an increase of 11.7% when compared to the estimate for 2023. Each bag contains approximately 200 thousand seeds. According to the company, this will be the first time in five years that seed sales will slow down. Among the total, 41% of soybean seeds sold in 2023 were destined for SLC’s own farms; 44% was allocated to SLC’s partners Basf, Seedcorp and Agro Amazônia. The remaining 15% went to farmers and seed dealers. (SLC Agrícola)
Soybean farmers are not “in a rush” to sell the 2023/24 harvest in advance. Ana Luiza Lodi, grains analyst at StoneX Consulting, said that soybean prices are under more pressure and that farmers are coming from “very good harvests”, which means that they are capitalized. StoneX estimates that 25% of Brazil’s new soybean harvest, which is expected to reach around 164 million tonnes, has been sold so far. This is above last year’s level, of 16.9%, but behind the previous four seasons. (StoneX Consulting)
Drought in the Amazon Basin could affect grain exports through Arco Norte, which is made up of ports in the States of Rondônia, Amazonas, Amapá, Pará, Maranhão and Bahia. Exports of the second corn harvest should be the most affected by low river levels. Even with ports in the South maintaining the flow of the largest volumes of grain in the country, the ports in Arco Norte have gained space in the last decade. In the case of soybeans, in 2012, 21% of the grain exported was through Arco Norte, compared to 38% in 2022. For corn, the increase was from 7% to 45%. In October, data is already beginning to indicate a migration of cargo from the North to the South, mainly to the Port of Santos, which should cause an increase in waiting times at the port. (Itaú BBA)
GMO soybean production cost of in the State of Mato Grosso fell 0.51% in September, when compared to August, and 16% when compared to the 2022/23 season. Production costs are estimated at US$ 825.54/ha. The drop happened due to the decline in the price of fertilizers (-0.9%) and macronutrients (-0.49%), which are “a result of lower demand in September”, according to the Institute of Agricultural Economics of the State of Mato Grosso (IMEA). Effective operating costs were estimated at US$ 1127.62 per hectare, a drop of 0.52% when compared to August of 2023. The break-even point for the 2023/24 soybean season was estimated at US$ 18.89 per bag, which represents 12.81% less than the average price for soybean sold in September, which was US$ 21.66 per bag. (IMEA)
Sakata Seed Sudamerica announced the acquisition of all shares of the Brazilian seed company Isla Sementes, located in Porto Alegre, State of Rio Grande do Sul, through Sakata Seed Corporation. (Sakata Seed Corporation)
Manoel Pedrosa is the new “Latam strategic alliances leader” at Syngenta. (Syngenta)
Exports of poultry genetics (including fertile eggs and day-old chicks) totaled 1,828 thousand tonnes in September. “The quality of poultry genetics and our health status have allowed Brazil to strengthen its role as a safe haven for nations seeking cutting-edge genetics, including nations facing challenges with Avian Influenza”, assesses the president of the Brazilian Animal Protein Association, Ricardo Santin. Sales to Mexico, the largest importer of poultry genetics from Brazil, generated a revenue of US$ 58.6 million from January to September of 2023, an increase of 128% when compared to the same period last year. (ABPA)
More than 500 sea-lions and fur seals have died from bird flu in October, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. “This problem has already happened in other places in the Americas. It happened in the USA, South America, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay”, according to Lauro Barcellos, director of the FURG Oceanographic Museum. “No new collections or new exams are being carried out. But it is already considered that influenza is widespread in the area“, says Francisco Lopes, from the Department of Animal Health Surveillance and Defense of Rio Grande do Sul. (Secretariat of Agriculture and Livestock of Rio Grande do Sul)
Estimated 5% increase in exports of Chilean table grapes. “This growth is mainly because of the increased production of new varieties, which allows us to estimate that they should represent 63% of the country’s total fresh grape exports during this season, totaling almost 40 million boxes”, said Iván Marambio , president of the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association. (Asoex)
After several months of decline, Colombia showed an increase of 1.7% in coffee production, reaching 849 thousand 60 kg bags of Arabica variety in September, compared to 834 thousand bags in the same period of 2022. In the past 12 months, production had fallen 9.1%, which reflected the unfavorable climate situation of 2022, caused mainly by the La Niña phenomenon. Temperature fluctuations have caused problems with coffee plant flowering in Colombia, which is the third largest arabica farmer in the world, behind Brazil and Vietnam. (Colombia Federation of Coffee Farmers)
Lack of water is harming agriculture in the country. By September of 2023, the Secretariat of Agriculture had identified 502,550 hectares of farms damaged because of low water levels. Farmers have requested support due to the prolonged drought that has already affected 74.96% of the Mexican territory. Chihuahua, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, Michoacán, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas are the regions with the most agricultural area affected. These regions have at least 70% of their area experiencing some degree of drought. Of the total agricultural hectares impacted, 465,943 are under rainfed farming, which depends exclusively on rainfall and on the soil’s capacity to store water. (Department of Agriculture)
The Northern region of the country suffers from a lack of rain, which has delayed soybean planting, according to the director of Dasagro, Esther Storch. Regions further south in Paraguay, which represent 26% of soybean farming, are already finishing planting, with 98% of the areas sown. The Northern region, with little rainfall, reached approximately 58% of the planted areas. (Dasagro)
Agricultural exports reached US$ 5.71 billion from January to August of 2023. Main exported products were: avocado, with US$ 927 million (18% of the total); fresh grapes, with US$ 659 million (12%); fresh cranberries, with US$ 344 million (6.5%); fresh or chilled asparagus, with US$ 212 million (4%); and fresh mangoes, with US$ 207 million (3.9%). (Ministry of Agriculture)
Minister of agriculture, Fernando Mattos, said that the government is working to resume authorization for honey exports to Germany. There are 2,600 registered beekeepers in the country, and 600,000 hives, with an estimated production of 12,000 tonnes of honey per year. The sector has been suffering the effects of the serious drought that has affected Uruguayan agriculture in the last three years. Uruguayan beekeepers export US$ 35 million a year to the US and EU countries. (Ministry of Agriculture)
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