Brazilian corn shipments confirmed expectations and more than doubled in 2022, in line with the harvest recovery after the sharp crop failure in the previous year. And, as data released yesterday by the National Association of Cereal Exporters (Anec) showed, sales of soy in grain to the foreign market did not resist the drop in production in the southern region and in part of Mato Grosso do Sul and retreated, in a of the few declines in exports over the past decade.
According to Anec, corn exports reached a record 43.1 million tons last year, or 109.4% more than in 2021. In December, cereal shipments grew 75.4% compared to the last month of the year previous year, to 5.8 million tons. And the pace should continue strong in January. According to the entity, the volume will reach 4.3 million tons, an increase of 94.6% compared to the same month of 2021.
Exports of soybeans in grain decreased by 10.2% in 2022, to 77.8 million tons. In December, the volume was 1.5 million tons, 40.2% less than the last month of 2021. Since 2013, this was only the third annual drop, all of them the result of crop failures caused by weather problems. Anec projects that, this month, shipments will remain weak, as the 2022/23 harvest is still in its infancy. The expectation is that 1.3 million tons will be shipped, a volume 42.4% less than that of a year ago.
Soybean meal shipments grew by 21% over last year to 20.4mt – despite falling by 10.8% in December to 1.4mt. For January, the forecast is for a new low, of 15.4%, to 1.3 million tons. According to the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries (Abiove), bran shipments tend to remain stable this year, but, with the increase in production, grain exports should grow to 93 million tons.
In the case of wheat, finally, Anec reported that Brazil sent 3.2 million tons abroad in 2022, which represented an increase of 188.8% compared to the previous year. In December, there were 689.2 thousand tons, a volume higher than the 538.6 thousand tons of the same month of 2021. Brazilian exports of the cereal gained strength with the good harvest and with the heating of demand, a reflection of the war between Russia and Ukraine , two countries that are usually major exporters.