Extreme drought is impacting the financial sustainability of agricultural companies in Chile
Grain exports grew 22% in March, compared to the same period in 2023, reaching US$ 1.5 billion. In the first three months of 2024, revenue reached US$ 4.52 billion, an increase of 61% year-on-year. Even so, the grain export and soybean crushing industry continues operating with high levels of idleness. (Ciara; CEC)
President of Argentina, Javier Milei, said that an eventual dollarization of the country’s economy should only happen after the closure of the Central Bank. According to Milei, his economic team is working to deliver reforms to the financial system, which could enable the closure of the Central Bank. The promise to close the Central Bank comes from the time of the election campaigns. (Government of Argentina)
Vaccination campaign against foot-and-mouth disease has advanced, with more than 29 million cattle vaccinated in the second campaign of 2023. The Secretary of Agriculture has indicated that “inoculation against foot-and-mouth disease is one of the main prevention strategies that allows us to maintain a stable epidemiological situation in relation to the disease”. (Senasa)
According to Julie Kozacki, director of the IMF’s Communications Department, Argentina has made “impressive progress” in its economic adjustment and stabilization program. In the IMF’s assessment, inflation has fallen faster than anticipated, but it will be important to continue to “improve the quality” of fiscal adjustment, said Kozacki. (IMF)
Edio José Schreiner is the new CEO of C.Vale Cooperativa Agroindustrial. (C.Vale)
Archer Daniels Midland seeks to encourage farmers to adopt regenerative agriculture practices on approximately 200,000 ha of soybeans in the next five years. The project already has 20 thousand ha on farms in the States of Mato Grosso do Sul and Minas Gerais. In addition, the company is entering the seeds and biological inputs market, with a project in the phase of establishing partnerships, with operations expected to start in the 2025/26 season. (ADM)
Ministry of Agriculture will renew the decree establishing a State of Zoosanitary Emergency throughout the national territory, due to the continued detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza. The health emergency status was declared on 05/22/2023 and was subsequently extended for another 180 days, on November 6th. (MAPA)
Brazilian Development Bank – BNDES and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change have signed a contract regarding the management of resources of the Fundo Clima (Climate Fund) project, transferring resources of up to US$ 206.1 million to finance the fund. “We have managed, together with the BNDES and the Ministry of Finance, to have it [the fund] reinforced”, said the Minister of Environment, Marina Silva. (BNDES)
Copersucar, a global leader in sugar and ethanol’s commercialization, acquired 50% of Newcom, one of the Comerc group’s trading companies, to sell electricity in the free energy market. The transaction is subject to the approval of the Administrative Council for Economic Defense and regulatory entities. (Comerc)
According to the President of the Rural Union of Palotina, State of Paraná, Edmilson Zabot, many areas in the municipality will lose 100% of their production, while others have already lost 50% of their potential and even those that received the most rainfall are showing a drop of between 30 and 40%. The Union will meet with government entities and agricultural companies to seek solutions for farmers, such as payment renegotiations and a State of Emergency decree by the City Hall. (Rural Union of Palotina)
Extreme drought is impacting the financial sustainability of agricultural companies, according to the president of the National Agricultural Society, Antonio Walker. In the past eight years, there has been an increase in the bankruptcy and judicial reorganization [Chapter 11] processes of companies, with 364 and 49 requests, respectively, made to the Superintendency of Insolvency and Re-entrepreneurship. (Superir; SNA)
Small-sized coffee farmers represent 96% of the total, and are responsible for 60% of Colombian production, according to the Rural Agricultural Planning Unit – UPRA. There are approximately 6.2 million hectares suitable for coffee farming in the country. Regarding exports, ten companies represent 71% of Colombian coffee on the international market. “With this information, we provide the necessary tools to farmers and the various players in the sector to make decisions that allow for the sustainable development of the production chain in the long term”, said Claudia Cortés, director of UPRA. (UPRA)
US sugar producers seek to restrict imports from Mexico. American Sugar Coalition wants the government to reduce the amount of sugar imported from Mexico by 44%. Sugar production in Mexico fell in the last harvest, but exports to the US continued. Thus, the US Department of Commerce announced that it plans to investigate whether there was a breach of trade rules that prevent Mexico from importing sugar from other countries to meet its domestic demand, while at the same time exporting local production to the US. (American Sugar Coalition)
Ministry of Agriculture announced it is increasing surveillance and strengthening inspections of livestock imports from the USA after avian influenza was detected in dairy cows in the country. Mexico-USA Commission for the Prevention of Foot and Mouth Disease and other Exotic Animal Diseases will visit livestock farms to collect samples for laboratory analysis. (Ministry of Agriculture)
Paraguay ended the 2023/24 soybean harvest with lower-than-expected production and is facing difficulties with the off-season production. According to Esther Storch, director of the agricultural consulting firm Dasagro, the last harvested crops produced less than expected, but this is the second largest soybean harvest in the country, with a production of 10.25 million tonnes. For the off-season, weather conditions are harming the development of soybean and corn crops. According to Storch, the Center-South region has better conditions, as it has received more rain, but the Northern part of the country is having more problems. (Dasagro)
The agro-industrial company Camposol exported 596 containers of mangoes for the USA, Europe, and Asia in the 2023/24 season. The Peruvian mango’s last campaign was very challenging due to weather disturbances. In January this year, the national production of mangoes amounted to 30,535 tonnes, which represented a drop of 83.2% when compared to the same month in 2023. (Camposol; INEI)
Ministry of Agriculture has identified 133 products with potential for exports to mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. “It is a huge market, which offers us great opportunities”, said Diego Velásquez, exports manager at the Exporters’ Association of Peru. The country exported 47 agro-industrial products to China in 2023, reaching US$ 369 million. (Midagri; ADEX)
Agro-industrial exports to Central America reached US$ 972.1 million in 2023, an increase of 5.3% compared to 2022. Highlight for agribusiness, with US$ 193.8 million (+21.8%), followed by chemicals (US$ 128.8 million), metallurgy (US$ 37.9 million) and steel (US$ 32.4 million). (ADEX)
President Nicolás Maduro has promulgated a law that creates a province of Venezuela in Essequibo, a territory internationally recognized as belonging to Guyana. A ceremony for signing the law was held on 04/03/2024. The law began to be discussed by the National Assembly of Venezuela at the end of 2023, when the country held a referendum in which 95% of voters were in favor of the incorporation of Essequibo. (Government of Venezuela)
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