Brazil soy exports tumble 84% in January

Brazil's soy exports in January dropped 84.1% against the same month last year, to 93,000 tonnes, according to data from the Foreign Trade Secretariat.

Soy exports remained low in January after strong trade last year led to low stocks. Most soy export trade in December and January was centred on the US bumper soy crop as Brazil's harvest got underway.

The soy trade brought in US$45.3 million to Brazil in January, down 81.2% from a year ago at US$253 million. The average price of soy in January was US$487.4 per tonne, up 18.4% on the year.

Brazil in January also shipped 634,000 tonnes of soymeal, a soy derivative used in animal feed and other food products, compared with 937,600 tonnes in January 2009.

Brazil is the world's second-largest soy exporter, behind the US, and soy is one of the biggest revenue drivers for Brazil.

Meanwhile, soy fungi are spreading across Brazil and Argentina, threatening record crops as demand gains.

According to reports, more than 1,200 cases of Asian Rust have been reported in Brazil, compared with 636 at this time last year. Downpours caused by El Nino encouraged the outbreak, which may reduce supplies as global consumption rises by about 6.4% this year, according to the USDA.

USDA estimates showed that Brazil's harvest will rise to 65.2 million tonnes from 57.2 million tonnes last year.

Last year, Brazilian farmers spent US$1.7 billion in fungicides to fight the disease and lost 571,800 tonnes to the fungus. Asian Rust was first found in Brazil in 2001 and peaked two years later when it wiped out 4.6 million tonnes of the oilseed, reducing the harvest to 49.8 million tonnes.