More than double
Brazilian corn shipments amounted to 12.212 million tons and revenue of US$ 2.020 billion, from January through April 2016, accord-
ing to the numbers from the Agrostat system, of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (Mapa). Throughout 2015, the re-
sults reached 5.134 million tons and US$ 964.829 million. “Almost the entire amount of corn shipped abroad in 2016 is coming from hand
to mouth, that is to say, it is cereal harvested in 2016, and exported in the same year “, illustrates Sérgio Mendes, general director at Anec.
Inor Ag. Assmann
34
Brazil should not repeat in 2016 the re-
cord exports of 30.745 million tons of corn
registered in the previous year. The National
Association of Cereal Exporters (ANEC) had
projected the shipment of 30 million tons
throughout the year, when the forecast for the
2015/16 growing season was for a crop of 82
million tons. Of this total, 54million tonswere
supposed to come from the second crop,
which, in general, is for the foreignmarket.
However, the Anec had to restore its cal-
culations as soon as the National Food Sup-
ply Agency (Conab) released its ninthBrazilian
grain crop survey, published in June, pointing
to a drop of 8.5 million tons in the 2015/16
corn crop. “We have already revised the ex-
ports projected for 2016, taking into consid-
eration the crop failures in the Center-West,
thus reducing the shipments to 23 million
tons”, says Sérgio Mendes, general director at
Anec. He also observed that, depending on
how the events unfold, the volume shipped
abroad could shrink even further.
The positive scenario for the corn export-
ing sector in the Country also considered the
Grains counted
The corn exporting sector, projects shipments at
23million tons – or less –in 2016, due to the smaller crop
Keeping the original
conditions of the
contract boosts the
confidence levels
fact that 45% of the corn crop in Mato Gros-
so, leading national producer and exporter,
had already been traded in early 2016. But,
according to the Conab survey, the volume
of corn in that State was supposed to drop
by 8.5 percent, with the harvest underway es-
timated at 19.008 million tons. With regard
to early 2015, only 20 percent of the volume
produced in Mato Grosso had been negoti-
ated. According to Anec officials, anticipated
purchases are happening mainly because of
the projected depreciation of the Brazilian
currency against the dollar throughout 2016.
On the subject of anticipated corn sales,
Mendes insists that, as far as possible, the
original conditions will be kept. “There will
be cases of confirmed crop failures. In such
cases, the commitments need to be revised”,
he explains. Furthermore, in June 2016, pric-
es fetched by corn in the domestic market
outstripped the prices negotiated in the in-
ternational marketplace, an indication that
exports would be very profitable. Accord-
ing to Mendes, all commitments with foreign
buyers should be honored, in spite of more
profitable domestic prices. “All contracts
signed by exporters and buyers have to be
respected”, Mendes insists again. This is be-
cause compliance with contracts presup-
poses confidence, a sine qua non condition
for Brazil – or any other country – to be
considered a reliable supplier. “Respect for
assumed contracts is the soul of the busi-
ness”, he summarizes.
Exportações brasileiras de milho em 2016
EMBARQUES RECENTES
Recent shipments
Fonte:
Agrostat/Mapa, junho de 2016.
Valor
Peso (kg)
Janeiro a abril de 2016
2.020.947.193
12.212.544.670
Janeiro a abril de 2015
964.829.968
5.134.876.416
