Brazilian Soybean Exports To China Reach 4.3 Million Tonnes in February, Up A Whopping 130% Year-on-year

On March 14, Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture released the latest statistics showing that Brazil's agricultural trade achieved a surplus of over US$9.2 billion in February, driven by positive commodity markets such as soybeans, meat and green coffee (unroasted coffee beans), with exports reaching US$10.51 billion, up 65.8% compared to the same period last year, a record high, and imports of US$1.25 billion, down 2.1% year-on-year. In February, the average price and volume of Brazilian agricultural exports increased by 24% and 33.7% year-on-year respectively, thus increasing the share of agricultural products in Brazil's exports from 38.7% last year to 45.9% in the same month.

The data also showed that Brazil's fertiliser imports in February were worth US$1.63 billion, a significant increase of 124.1% over the year-ago level (US$725.53 million), with imports of 2.94 million tonnes, down nearly 2% year-on-year, and an average price increase of 128.7% year-on-year. In this regard, the Ministry of Agriculture said, "It should be noted that in February the World Bank's survey of international fertiliser prices showed that the average price of fertiliser had risen by almost 100% over the past 12 months. The main suppliers of fertiliser to Brazil are now Russia, Canada, China, Oman and Qatar, among others."

Looking at the main agri-trade products. For soybeans, Brazil exported 6.27 million tonnes and US$3.1 billion in February, far exceeding the year-ago level (2.6 million tonnes and US$1 billion), an increase of 137% and 203% respectively. China continues to be Brazil's largest soybean importer, with soybean exports to China reaching 4.3 million tonnes in February, up 130% year-on-year and accounting for around 69% of total exports, with exports reaching US$2.17 billion, up 186.6% year-on-year, a record high for the single month of soybean trade between Brazil and China. In terms of meat, thanks to the return to normal sourcing from China, the value of Pakistani beef exports in February was US$965.02 million, up 75.1% year-on-year, and the volume of exports increased by 42%, with exports to China growing strongly, with the value and volume of exports rising sharply from US$261.79 million and 56.41 million tonnes in the same period last year to US$546.49 million and 87.1 million tonnes; chicken exports were US$643.11 Chicken exports increased by 26% to US$643.11 million, while the volume of exports increased by a modest 6%. In terms of coffee, exports of green coffee reached 208,500 tonnes during the month, up 9.1% year-on-year, with the average price surging by a record 83.5%.