Farm gate prices of tomatoes rose con-
siderably in early 2016. A farm survey con-
ducted by the Hortifruti team at the Center
for Applied Studies on Advanced Econom-
ics (Cepea), of the Luiz de Queiroz Col-
lege of Agriculture (Esalq), linked to the
University of São Paulo (USP), indicated
that a box of 2V Long Life Salad tomatoes
fetched R$ 73 at the farm gate – the weight
of the box ranges from 22 to 25 kilograms,
depending on the region where the toma-
toes are produced. Nonetheless, as of Feb-
ruary, with the summer crop reaching its
peak, supplies soared and prices receded,
reaching an average of R$ 42 per box.
The scenario suffered no changes un-
til April, when prices were further pressed
down on account of rising supply, caused
by the superposition of the winter and
summer crops. That month, farm gate pric-
es came down to only R$ 27 per box, on
average. For a big number of tomato grow-
ers, who collected their tomatoes during
this period, this price was lower than the
production cost”, explains researcher Re-
nata Pozelli Sabio, from Hortifruti.
On the other hand, she maintains that
the lower prices did not reach the consum-
ers at the same speed, as they continued
to pay high prices at the retail stores. As
time goes by, in general, the trend points
to challenging times for all Brazilian toma-
to producers. “We are experiencing a re-
ceding economic scenario, characterized
by credit crunch for investments and, at
the same time, production costs continue
soaring”, she ponders.
The specialist points out that the high-
er prices for pesticides, fertilizers, fuel,
electric energy and labor are major fac-
tors that result in ever-rising production
costs for the farmers. Furthermore, there
is a weakened consumer market, not will-
ing to pay for the final bill. “Our concern
is that, should supply go up considerably
in the second half of the year, the scenar-
io may not be satisfactory for the farmers”,
she comments.
Challenging times
Highproductioncosts, creditcrunchandshrinking
consumermarketareobstaclesfacedbythefarmers
21
Fonte:
Estatísticas de Comércio Exterior do Agronegócio Brasileiro (Agrostat)/ Mapa. – * Dados até abril de 2016
The balance
A BALANÇA
Exportações e importações – 2016*
Exportação
Produto
Valor (US$)
Peso (Kg)
Tomate
86.635
657.332
Tomates preparados ou conservados
714.529
776.413
Importação
Produto
Valor (US$)
Peso (Kg)
Tomate
18.750
42.500
Tomates preparados ou conservados
10.172.536
12.123.227
