Today: Brazilian agricultural producers enjoy a boom in exports during the pandemic. Central bank moves on with plans for its own digital currency. And the 5G auction is facing further uncertainty.
Great times for Brazil’s farm country
Brazilian agricultural producers are profiting from an export boom. Data from the Agriculture Ministry shows that sales abroad broke records in March and April for those respective months. Brazilian farmers have already shipped USD 36.8 billion worth of goods in 2021 — with soy-based products making up 43 percent of all exports.
- Soy product exports rose 24 percent in the first four months of the year. Meat exports also soared 22.7 percent over the same period.
Why it matters. Brazil battles record-high unemployment and has seen millions of discouraged workers abandoning the job market entirely. The on-again-off-again Covid restrictions have been highly detrimental to most sectors of the economy, but the agricultural sector is a rare case of Brazilian prosperity.
China. In our latest Weekly Report, we explained the sheer importance of China for Brazilian exports. That dependence is even greater when we focus solely on agricultural products.
- In 2002, China made up just 1.68 percent of Brazilian agro exports. Nineteen years later,...