n
n
n
Processed
The segment of chips was more affected by the national economic crisis than the
segment of potato sticks. More than 20% of the Brazilian potatoes are processed,
says consultant Paulo Popp. All the processing industries reduced their processed
volumes. Furthermore, supplies of industry potatoes were low and prices high. This
scenario persisted from the second half of 2016 to early 2017. Frozen pre-fried pota-
toes registered an increase of 15% in imports in 2016. During a period, it was neces-
sary to import the material from Argentina, as the fields run by the industries were
adversely affected by bad weather conditions.
The soaring consumptionof pre-friedpotatoes competeswith themarket of fresh
potatoes and harms the farmers because Brazil imports 70% of the total volume of
this type of product. “Brazil is not competitive in the production of potatoes. The im-
portation of processed potatoes, like frozen pre-fried products should continue on a
large scale, with possible increases”, he comments. In the consultant’s view, recent-
ly the Brazilian congress passed the anti-dumping tariff on products coming fromEu-
rope, but even so, prices are lower, compared to the national product.
decades, but abundant supply kept prices
below desired levels”, he notes. The Brazil-
ian economic crisis also took a toll on the
consumption of potatoes, whose prices re-
mained relatively high, inducing people to
shift to other products.
Until May 2017, the conditions and sce-
nario suggested steep declines in prices for
the potatoes harvested in August and Sep-
tember. However, the winter crop was just
beginning and some regions were experi-
encing water shortages. It was not possible
to figure out what could happen to the hu-
mid climate or summer crop. “Goodweath-
er conditions are expected and there are
still big amounts of seed potatoes under
production and stocked”, he comments.
The production cost was high in the first
half of 2016, due to low productivity prob-
lems. “The high prices of the crop brought
high profits to the farmers, just like what
happened in 2015”, says Popp. The farmers
who harvested bigger crops achieved ex-
ceptional profits, which will probably nev-
er happen again. However, in the second
half of 2016, themargins for thewinter crop
were limited and, towards the end of the
year andearly 2017, lots of farmers endured
losses and were unable to cover their pro-
duction costs. The national potato crop es-
timatedby the Brazilian Institute of Geogra-
phy and Statistics (IBGE) amounts to about
4million tons, way above the volume antic-
ipated by the consultant in Curitiba.
31
Asprincipais
MAINVEGETABLES
AINDA MAIOR
Produçãobrasileiradebatata
2016
2017*
1ª, 2ª e 3ª safras (toneladas)
3.935.438
3.907.503
Área total colhida (ha)
134.243
131.768
Produtividade média kg/ha
29.974
30.305
Fonte:
IBGE/LSPA –*Estimativa janeiro.
even bigger
SUPERIOR
Produçãodebatata/2016
Volume
(toneladas)
3.200.000 a 3.400.000 – 6% a 8%
Área
(ha)
115.000 a 120.000 – quase 10%
Fonte:
eng. agr. Paulo Popp, consultor de Curitiba (PR).
superior
BALANÇACOMERCIAL
Importação
Ano
2015
2016
US$
322.690.063 370.900.602
Kg
311.352.369 412.900.495
Exportação
Ano
2015
2016
US$
4.266.816 1.530.017
Kg
10.876.869 2.679.725
Fonte:
MDIC/Aliceweb
– Elaboração:
Editora Gazeta.
LÍDERES
Principais estadosprodutores
debatatas – toneladas
leaders
Estado
2016 2017*
Minas Gerais
1.259.882 1.243.797
Paraná
776.501 914.195
São Paulo
752.113 704.999
Rio Grande do Sul
426.399 469.301
Bahia
314.651 168.090
Goiás (3ª safra)
236.192 249.416
Santa Catarina
161.936 149.145
Sub-total
3.927.674 3.898.943
Brasil
3.935.438 3.907.503
Fonte:
IBGE/LSPA – * Estimativa janeiro.
