February 10, 2023

 

China becomes main destination of Brazilian corn exports in January by volume

 

Revised trade data released by the Brazilian government has showed that China became the main destination of Brazilian corn exports in January 2023 by volume, surpassing traditional importers like Japan, Iran, and Spain, Nasdaq reported.

 

Brazil sold 983,684 tonnes to China in January, the second full month of corn trading since Beijing authorised Brazilian corn imports in late November 2022.

 

Brazil already ships the majority of its soybeans to China, a massive importer that also buys meat and other food staples from the South American country.

 

A large customer such as China will allow Brazil to increase its share of the global corn trade.

 

Brazilian grain exporters group Anec said until recently, China imported roughly 70% of US corn and 29% of Ukrainian corn. But China sought new suppliers following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

 

China imported 1.16 million tonnes of corn from Brazil in 2022, with nearly the entire amount shipped in December.

 

Despite increased domestic corn production, Anec estimates that China will import 20 million tonnes of corn in 2023.

 

Brazil's export forecast for the 2022/23 season was raised to 47 million tonnes, up from 45 million tonnes previously.

 

According to the revised trade data, Brazilian corn exports to China totaled US$271.4 million in January, accounting for about 15% of the month's total exports of US$1.773 billion.

 

The new trade data also showed Japan, Brazil's second largest corn buyer by volume and first largest by value last month, paid US$275.2 million for 975,858 tonnes of corn.

 

The Brazilian government revised its estimate for total corn exports in January, lowering it to 6.16 million tonnes from a preliminary 6.34 million tonnes.

 

-      Nasdaq