June 23, 2022

Corn exports from Brazil rising as supplies from Ukraine are blocked

Brazil's local port authority said Brazilian corn exports through the southern port of Paranagua increased an unusually high 161% in the first five months of the year due in part to a shortage of Ukrainian product, Reuters reported.

1.546 million tonnes of bulk corn were exported through Paranagua between January and May, an increase from 591,538 tonnes during the same period last year.

The shows how corn buyers are looking for supplies from alternative sources as a result of the conflict in Ukraine.

Helder Catarino, general manager of Interalli, which conducts business at the port, claims that Brazil is not a significant corn exporter at this time of the year.

Catarino said Brazil is exporting corn because it still had plenty of it on hand, and it was selling for a profit.

The port authority cited the incoming second corn crop from Brazil as the reason for the spike in corn exports in the first few weeks of the year.

Brazil's second corn crop, which will make up about 75% of the country's output this season, is currently being harvested and has been gradually making its way to the port silos at Paranagua since the beginning of June.

The majority of the corn being shipped through Paranagua was produced by farmers in Parana, Mato Grosso, and Mato Grosso do Sul.

-      Reuters