Brazilian exports of corn to China totaled just 70,000 tons in February, with grain shipments more concentrated in the new crop of soyaccording to data published by the government statistics system.
The volume represents a sharp drop compared to January, when exports to China totaled 983,700 tons of corn, out of a total exported by Brazil of 6.17 million tons in the first month of the year.
In February, Brazil’s total shipments also plunged more than 60% compared to January to about 2.275 million tons, at a time when soybean exports often take the lead in ports, with the arrival of the new harvest to market.
“February is not traditionally a month for corn exports from Brazil, which will increase shipments (of the cereal) from July,” said Paulo Molinari, a corn analyst at the consultancy Safras & Mercado, referring to the timing of soybean exports in the first half of the year.
“From there (the second semester), we will see if China will need corn volumes”he added.
According to the evaluation of the president of the exporter AgriBrasil, Frederico Humberg, China bought “a lot” to the United States, which helps explain the lower appetite for Brazilian grain in imports in February.
In addition, he cited the stream from Ukraine, “that comes and goes”. “It is always the cheapest, but without a delivery guarantee.”
Humberg also pointed to Brazil’s logistical difficulties in exporting corn and soybeans, with a record crop of the oilseed taken from the fields.
“The enormous volume of soybeans has been bogged down in logistics along with the corn that had been exported. And with that the ports have 30 to 40 days of queues waiting for the ships”he stressed.
Brazilian soybean exports in February amounted to 5.2 million tons, of which 3.59 million corresponded to China.
With a portrait in the harvest, total shipments of the Brazilian oilseed fell by about one million tons year-on-year. February marks the start of the largest export volumes of the new soybean crop.
Source: Reuters
Source: Gestion
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