China increases imports of Brazilian soybeans by 20%

According to a survey by the Ministry of Economy, until May 2023, China imported 34.432 million tons of soybeans from Brazil, 20% more when compared to 2022, when the volume was 28.741 million tons. The data are from the Foreign Trade Secretariat (Secex).

Among the countries that buy the most Brazilian oilseeds are China, responsible for more than 70% of the volume; followed by Spain, with 1.749 million tons, followed by Thailand, with 1.328 million tons.

Safra e Mercado consultant Luiz Fernando Gutierrez comments on the months of strong soy production in Brazil and reveals that the expectation is very good this year for bran exports as well. “April, May, June are the main months for exports of soybeans in Brazil, because that’s where most of the volume is available. So the prospects are great. We are going to break an export record, for sure. And also bran. We already had a record for breaks in Argentina. We are forecasting exports of 22 million tons”.

In Brazil, the state that appears most prominently in the shipment of soy is Mato Grosso, which has already totaled 17.295 million tons this year. Then come Goiás, Paraná, São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul and Minas Gerais, with volumes between 5.598 and 3.318 million tons. The municipalities with the highest soy production in the country are Sorriso and Campo Novo dos Parecis, both in Mato Grosso. And Cristalina, in Goiás.

The large volume of soy exports has a positive effect on several sectors of the Brazilian economy. These impacts range from the producer to the country’s GDP, explains economist Hugo Garbe. “The greater export of soy has a big effect on the Brazilian economy as a whole and the entire agribusiness supply chain, from the soy producer to the seller of fertilizers, the seller of machinery, equipment. It is job creation, income for the population. Agribusiness accounts for almost 27% of the Brazilian GDP. The GDP came in bigger and better than expected, largely due to the good result of the agro GDP that influenced the general GDP here in Brazil”.

For specialists, in the course of 2023, the tendency is for Brazil to continue with this level of exports, or even higher, not only due to the global demand for food, but also due to the competitive prices in the international soybean market.