Brazil will soon be the world’s largest corn exporter
Brazilian corn is in high demand, especially with traditional exporters the United States and Argentina facing harvest problems due to war in Ukraine.
In the state of Mato Grosso (central-west), winters are mild and the distribution of rains allows a second harvest.
Raphael Moser
On his farm in Sinop, Mato Grosso state, Ilson José Redivo finished planting corn a few weeks ago. In this region, considered the breadbasket of Brazil, where fields stretch as far as the eye can see, the farmer’s calendar is well established: he follows two crops, soybeans and corn, “almost 100%” of his large plots. Corn is harvested in June.
This golden “small harvest”, known as “safrinha”, preceded the traditional harvest at the beginning of the year, making it the largest harvest of this grain in decades. Thanks to him, Brazilian corn production should break a new record this year. This would allow Brazil to overtake the United States as the world’s leading corn exporter for the first time since 2013.
Brazilian corn production is expected to reach 124.9 million tons (+10.4% over last year), including 76.3% in the second harvest, according to the latest report from the National Supply Company (Conab) published this week. This is despite “delays in soybean harvest” due to “excess rain” in Mato Grosso (central-western) state. There, winters are mild and the distribution of rainfall allows for a second harvest.
Good share of people with disabilities
Mr. Redivo explains. “Maize has become more attractive as a second crop, so we are using more fertilizers, genetically improved seeds and agricultural machines to allow faster and more precise sowing,” he underlines.
Transgenic varieties now occupy almost all Brazilian corn fields. With such production forecasts, “the country should increase its export surplus,” which would allow it to sell more abroad, points out João Pedro Lopes of commodities markets analyst firm StoneX.
Demand is also boosted by the opening of the Chinese market for corn following the signing of an agreement between Brasilia and Beijing in early 2022, this expert notes.
Challenges to overcome
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 52 million tons of South American giant corn can be exported this year, 31.9 million tons can be exported in 2022, and its exports are expected to be 49 million tons. .
“Brazil is positioning itself as a competitor to the United States and has the potential to further increase its production. There is still a lot of land for this crop,” assures Enori Barbieri, vice-president of the Brazilian Corn Growers Association (Abramillo), in the already open agricultural lands.
But to continue to improve its performance abroad, while meeting growing domestic demand, driven by the needs of the meat sector and the ethanol industry, the nation-state will face several challenges.
Brazil “must succeed in raising its investments in agricultural equipment” to “accelerate sowing and harvesting” and “continue to improve its logistics infrastructure to sell produce,” warns Lucileo Alves, researcher at the Center for Advanced Studies in Applied Economics from the University of São Paulo (SEBIA).
And storage capacity is insufficient, reports Ricardo Arioli of the National Agricultural Confederation (CNA): “In Mato Grosso, we noted a storage deficit of almost 60% during the last harvest of soybeans and corn”.
AFP/Inaki Tanner
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