The Brazilian agro managed to value itself in the international market last year. According to data compiled by the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and released on Thursday (19), products of the sector were exported with higher prices in 2022. Compared to 2021, the appreciation was almost 19%.

According to the survey of the entity, the basket of approximately 190 SH4 positions (product categories) exported by Brazilian agro to almost all countries in the world averaged US$ 680.59 a tonne. Value that represents an increase of 18.95% over the average price of the deals practiced during 2021.

Despite the growth, the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce warns that the variation should be viewed with "caution" to avoid distortions. In this sense, the entity mentions that the appreciation of Brazilian agro products abroad can be explained, for example, the rise in global inflation last year. About to turn a year old, the war between Russia and Ukraine is also mentioned as another factor.

But according to the analysis of the team responsible for the survey, Brazilian agricultural production has had a turn in the face of "strong demand for food commodities abroad". In particular, the material mentions the foods that can be stocked — which, according to the entity, allowed exporters to go beyond passing on some costs, but how to increase their own profit margins.

"In most products, prices rose to keep up with the high production costs, but there were many situations in which the adjustments occurred above the general average and significantly above Brazilian inflation [5.79%, according to IBGE], especially in the items that lead the agenda," notes The Secretary General of the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Tamer Mansour. "There is also the dollar valued against the real favoring margins. This data makes us believe that exporters have made important profits in many businesses", adds the executive.

Brazilian agro values in 2022

Also according to the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, exports of Brazilian agro totaled US$ 135.157 billion in 2022. Amount representing an increase of 35.41% over the previous year. Among the top 10 of the agenda, coffee was the product that valued the most. The business involving the grain was carried out, according to the survey, at an average price 56.93% higher, with an average of US$ 4,000.42 a tonne in all the countries importing the national product. Corn appears in the sequence, with a 37.85% increase and an average price of US$ 282.65 a tonne.

Soybeans are in third place in the ranking, with a 31.75% increase and an average price of US$ 591.20 a tonne. Soybean oil comes next, with an average price 23.80% higher, in this case $1,512.27 a tonne. Closing the top five, the birds valued 22.69%, with the ton sold at US$ 2,007.84.

Export to Arab countries

In the 22 Arab countries, of particular interest to the chamber of commerce, the agro basket was sold at an average price 14.40% higher, in this case US$ 570.84 per tonne. Compared to the average sales price for all countries, which valued 18.95%, these figures suggest that arabs were able to trade food at lower prices than the whole of the planet, which was confirmed in important items on the agenda, such as:

1. Beef ($4,404.13 per tonne in the Arab League, versus $5,753.74 worldwide);
2. Soybeans (US$ 579.84 and US$ 591.20);
3. Corn (US$ 273.96 and US$ 282.65);
4. Sugar (US$ 395.15 and US$ 403.20);
5. Coffee (US$ 3,962.57 and US$ 4,000.42); and
6. Wheat ($310.83 and $314.80).

There have been cases, however, in which Brazilians have managed to impose prices more of their interest. One of these situations occurred in the chicken trade, a product that was highlighted in the agenda for the Arab League. The Arabs, who have been making billion-dollar contributions to expand the local supply of poultry protein and depend less on the imported bird, paid on average US$ 2,171.98 per tonne of Brazilian chicken, up 26.35% on the price of the previous year and slightly above the values practiced globally (US$ 2.022,89).

For Mansour, the premium paid by the Arab buyer to Brazilian refrigerators highlights the competitiveness of brazilian agro, which since the 1970s has been specializing in serving the Arab League, with regular supply of chicken of Islamic standard (halal), in whole pieces weighing between 0.8 and 1.2 kg, as the client of the block prefers.

"The high specialization of poultry refrigerators once again allowed the sector to put chicken in the Arab markets in quantities, in the standard, in the price demanded and even more competitive than the local chicken subsidized by oil," says secretary general of the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.

In 2022, the 22 Arab League countries accounted for one third of the exports of chicken produced in Brazil. The region earned revenues of US$ 3.169 billion, a 30.88% increase over 2021. Volumes grew 4.18% to 4.42 million tons, another indication of the appreciation of Brazilian agro products.

Source: Canal Rural