With record harvest, Brazilian corn exports have positive outlook

Droughts and frosts made 2021 a terrible year for Brazilian corn producers, especially those focused on foreign markets. But the outlook has improved this year, with exports of the commodity picking up since July, both in terms of volume and price. 

The trend should continue over the next few months and possibly even into the next harvest, which begins in February.

In July, Brazil exported 4.1 million tons of corn, according to the Foreign Trade Secretariat. The volume is 107 percent higher than that recorded in the same period last year and second only to exports in the same month in 2019.

Thanks to inflated prices, revenue topped the USD 1.15 billion mark, which was not only 190 percent higher than in 2021, but also a record for the month. Average cereal export prices were 40 percent higher in the yearly comparison.

In August, one of the strongest months for Brazilian corn shipments, as most of the country’s soy has already been moved, this upward trend appears to have continued. 

Per the latest projection made by the Brazilian Association of Cereal Exporters (Anec), which updates its estimates weekly, corn exports should have ended August at 7.1 million tons. Even though this number does not represent a record, with it corn shipments between January and August should total 19.1 million tons, versus 20.6 million tons of last year as a whole, when drought and frost reduced the crop.

Price-wise, corn has been the second main contributor to the positive results seen by the agricultural sector, behind only soybean. By August, sales had grown by 136.8 percent compared to last year.

“We expect very good exports this year because we are one of the few countries that...