October 23, 2008

Brazil '08 fertilizer estimate revised to 24 million tonnes

Brazilian farmers should purchase about 24 million metric tonnes of fertilizer in 2008, lower than originally expected, Eduardo Daher, president of the National Association of Fertilizer Distributors, or ANDA, said Wednesday (October 22).

"We originally expected to reach 26 million tonnes in 2008, and now we expect to reach about 24 million tonnes, close to last year's figure, due mainly to the lack of credit," Daher told Dow Jones Newswires.

Brazil delivered 24.6 million tonnes of fertilizer in 2007, according to Anda.

Moreover, Brazil delivered 18.2 million tonnes between January and September, up 4 percent from the same period in 2007, he said.

Lines of credit have recently been stopped by private-sector lenders such as Cargill, Bunge (BG) and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), he said. Credit is also slow to reach farmers from the public sector, he added.

Brazil is the world's fourth-largest consumer of fertilizer. Brazil is also the world's No.1 producer of sugarcane, coffee, orange juice and the world's No.2 producer of soy.