Agribusiness participation in Brazilian exports increases 1,5% in March

In the month of March, agribusiness exports totaled US$8.64 billion, a value 5,3% lower than the US$9.12 billion exported in March 2018. The drop in exported value was mainly due to the drop in international product prices exported by Brazil.

The price index for products exported by agribusiness decreased by 6,4%, a percentage that was partially offset by the 1,2% increase in the volume of exports.

The share of agribusiness products in Brazilian exports increased by 1,50%, reaching a 47,6% share. The increase occurred despite the 5,3% drop in foreign sales of agribusiness products, as exports of other products showed a greater drop of 14,2%.

Imports of agribusiness products also registered a reduction in the month, falling from US$ 1.29 billion in March 2018 to US$ 1.14 billion in March 2019 (-11,9%).

The five main exporting segments of Brazilian agribusiness were: soy complex (US$ 3.98 billion; 46% of the exported value); meat (US$1.23 billion; 14,3% of exported value); forestry products (US$1.10 billion; 12,7% of exported value); coffee (US$467.39 million; 5,4% of exported value); sugar and alcohol complex (US$ 392.70 million; 4,5% of exported value).

The share of these five main segments was 83% of the total value exported by Brazilian agribusiness in March. In the same month of the previous year, exports from these sectors accounted for 84,2% of the total value exported in agribusiness products. In other words, there was a deconcentration in sales in the sector.

The value of exports from the 20 other agribusiness sectors was US$1.47 billion, a figure 2,3% higher than that in March 2018, which was US$1.44 billion.

The main agribusiness export segment in March was the soybean complex, which increased its share to 46% of the total value of exports, with foreign sales of US$3.98 billion.

The export volume of soybeans was a record for the months of March, reaching 9.100 million tons (+3%). However, the 6,8% drop in the international price of the commodity caused the exported value to fall 3,9%, reaching US$3.30 billion.

Meat exports fell from US$1.35 billion in March 2018 to US$1.23 billion in March 2019 (-8,5%). All types of meat showed a decrease in exported value: chicken meat (US$ 557.96 million; -3,9%); beef (US$529.45 million; -10,5%); pork (US$ 105.70 million; -8,9%); and turkey meat (US$4.98 million; -72,2%).

The coffee sector was the only one among the five main segments of Brazilian agribusiness that showed an increase in exports in March 2019. Sales of the product rose to US$ 467.39 million (+12,3%), as a result of the significant increase of 38,9 % in exported volume. The average export price, however, registered a drop of 19,1%.