Brazilian Agricultural Foreign Trade : Main Markets and Products

Abstract

Brazilian grain production increased 33% between the 2005/2006 and 2010/2011 harvests, from 122.5 million tonnes to 163.0 million tonnes. During this period, the planted area increased 4.3%, while the average yield increased from 2.6 tonnes per hectare to 3.3 tonnes per hectare (+27.5%). In fact, the productivity gains achieved in recent years were the main reason for the record harvest of 2010/2011. In addition to the record production, the high prices of agricultural products increased 43.5% in the gross value of agricultural production between 2006 and 2011, from US$ 86.2 billion to US$ 124.0 billion in the period. Moreover, the record production has expanded the country’s export capacity. Foreign sales of agricultural and livestock products increased in volume from 79.4 million tonnes to 103.3 million tonnes in the last five years (+30.1%), while exports grew from US$ 36.9 billion to US$ 81.4 billion1 (+120%). Analysis reveals the good phase of national agriculture and livestock production, with strong growth in productivity, income, and associated expansion of export capacity. Despite these figures, the country’s agricultural and livestock export portfolio is still concentrated on a few products. The four main exporting sectors - soybean ,sugar and ethanol, meat and coffee - participated with 78.7% of total exports in 2006, and increased this concentration to 79.4% in 2011.