The record harvest of 44.3 million tons of soybeans this season would place Mato Grosso as the world's third largest producer of grain if the state were a country. This is because the state is expected to produce 32% more than Argentina, the third place in oilseed production, which had its production reduced to about 29 million tons.

Currently, the world ranking of the largest soybean producers has Brazil in first position, with a projection of 151.4 million tons, according to data from the National Supply Company (Conab), and with the United States in second place, with an estimated production of 121 million tons for 2022/23.

Argentina ranks third. However, if Mato Grosso were to enter the list as a country, the positions would be changed, since, recently, the Bolsa de Rosário reduced the production projection for the current crop from 33 million to 29 million tons.

When analyzing the mato-grossense production of soybean within The Brazilian production, it represents approximately 30% of the volume harvested in the country.

"Mato Grosso's participation in Brazil's production is such that if we were a country and took the state's production out of the national account, Brazil would become the second largest producer in the world, losing to the United States," says the Deputy Secretary of Agribusiness and Investments of the Secretary of State for Economic Development (Sedec),  Anderson Lombardi.

Productivity between factors to record

There are several factors for the increase in soybean production in Mato Grosso. Among them are the growth of agricultural areas above degraded pasture area, use of technology and productivity per hectare, which in this 2022/23 crop has an average forecast of 61.59 bags per hectare.

In this cycle, 11.99 million hectares were sowed and the expectation, according to the Mato Grosso Institute of Agricultural Economics (Imea), is that by 2032 the area destined for soybeans will reach 16.50 million hectares. In terms of production, the state is expected to reach 63.61 million tons.

From competitor in exports to customer

The crop failure in Argentina has led the country with a strong competitor of Brazilian and Mato Grosso exports to customers.

According to data from the Secretariat of Foreign Trade (Secex), between January and February Mato Grosso sent 2.45 million tons of soybeans to the foreign market. Argentina was the third largest customer with about 140,000 tons, second only to leading China with 1.55 million tons and Spain with 240,000 tons.

In terms of percentage, China accounted for 63.12% of shipments, followed by Spain with 9.96% and Argentina 5.86%.

Source: Canal Rural