Sílvio Ávila
38
T
he Brazilian corn supply chain
needs to win back its clients,
and quickly, if it is a question of
equating the average farm gate
prices above the production
costs, generating income. This happens be-
cause the Country nowhas the biggest sup-
ply of corn in history, more than 104million
tons, for a domestic demand that reach-
es only half of this amount, making it nec-
essary to export 28 million tons, say offi-
cials fromtheNational Food Supply Agency
(Conab). There will still be a surplus of 20.4
million tons in the national market, the big-
gest ending stock ever seen, exerting pres-
sure on domestic prices.
The National Association of Cereal Ex-
porters (ANEC) has a more optimistic pro-
jection: it believes in a second half of the
year with strong demand and 30 million
tons shipped abroad by Brazil, a repeat
of the record in the 2014/15 season. The
problem lies in the fact that corn exports
dropped73.8percent fromJanuary to June
2017, totaling 3.2 million tons, 10 percent
of the exports foreseen by Anec officials. In
the same period in 2016, an atypical year,
because of exchange rate fluctuations and
production failures, 13.3 million tons were
shipped abroad. Revenue shrank 72.8 per-
cent in 2017, to US$ 561.4million. Only Iran
purchased more corn, whilst relevant cli-
ents like Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan and Saudi
Arabia were seduced by the more competi-
tive prices of the United States. The fight for
and loss of space for soybean at the ports
For
sale!
Brazil should produce and export
more,buttothisendtheCountryneedstobecompetitive,
andthesearetheconditionsthesupplychainisseeking
With the biggest supply in history, exportingwas never that important
