China becomes Brazil’s top corn buyer over a single year

China, the world’s largest importer of commodities, continues to show a strong appetite for purchasing agricultural products. Less than a year after making its first corn purchase from Brazil, the Asian giant has overtaken traditional destinations to become Brazil’s top corn buyer.

“The shipments [of corn to China] exceeded market expectations. The Chinese have outpaced other major importers of Brazilian corn, such as Japan and Iran, which came as a huge surprise since China is a major corn producer,” said Sérgio Mendes, CEO of the National Association of Cereal Exporters (Anec).

According to Anec’s calculations, from November last year, when Brazil obtained approval to export to China, until August of this year, over 6.7 million tonnes of corn were destined for the Asian country. In 2023 alone, up to the eighth month of the year, Chinese purchases totaled 4.85 million tonnes.

“China is buying corn from Brazil to bridge a small gap between its production and consumption. Until 2022, nearly all corn imported by China came from the United States and Ukraine. However, the Chinese want to expand their alternatives, which is why they reached a sanitary agreement with Brazil at the end of last year,” highlighted Daniele Siqueira, an analyst at AgRural.

According to the Anec executive, Brazil would hardly be able to export just over 10 million tonnes of corn without China’s participation, the most recent projection for this month, which, if confirmed, would be the highest in history for a single month.

“Brazilian grain exporters are extremely reliable. Fifteen years ago, our country had only three major ports: Santos, Paranaguá, and Rio Grande. If we look today, with the expansion of ports in the Northern Arc, we count on many more exit points for our goods,” Mendes noted.

The chart below shows the volume of corn exported from Brazil to China from maritime ports between last year and September 2023. The data is from DataLiner.

Corn exports from Brazil to China | Jan 2022 – Sep 2023 | WTMT

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Logistical Challenge

Since mid-June, at the beginning of the second-crop corn harvest, there has been some concern in the production sector that Brazil might face a logistical crisis in handling agricultural production. The country was still harvesting soybeans, and ports were receiving shipments of sugar, which, like grains, had a large harvest this season.

“Brazilian exporters faced a major challenge in exporting corn this year. BR-163 was recently paved, and routes to reach the ports are still limited. The scenario is not yet ideal, but companies were extremely quick to dispatch the corn as soon as they gained access to the loading terminals,” observed the Anec director.

In his view, international corn purchases will continue briskly despite declining commodity prices on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Source: Globo Rural

To read the original news text, see: https://globorural.globo.com/agricultura/milho/noticia/2023/09/em-menos-de-um-ano-china-se-torna-principal-importador-de-milho-do-brasil.ghtml

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