October 31, 2012

Saudi Arabia increases imports of Brazilian corn by 151.7%

In January-August of this year, Saudi Arabia has boosted its imports of Brazilian corn by 151.7% to 402,190 tonnes.

This is according to Rio de Janeiro-based BrazArtis' business development director, Jan Dabrowa, as reported by Arab News.

Dabrowa said that the Latin American country has become one of the major producers and exporters of soy and corn globally, with the value of the country's agribusiness set to hit US$100 billion during the current year.

The country's grain harvest is forecasted to reach more than 180 million tonnes in 2012, compared with 170 million in 2011, with the soy harvest alone for 2012-13 set to jump by 20% to 81 million tonnes, from 66 million.

On the other hand, Brazil's corn output is expected to rise by 7% to 70 million tonnes from 66 million tonnes.

In the first eight months of the year, Egypt boosted its imports of Brazilian corn by 899.4% to 902,550 tonnes, from 90,310 tonnes in 2011 last year.

It is worth noting that in 2012, exports of Brazilian soy are forecasted to grow 20% from a year ago to 17.5 million tonnes.