The Brazilian agribusiness trade balance data for August show how our exports keep increasing year after year. In that month, the value of goods traded abroad reached US$ 15.4 billion, a 5.3% increase when compared to the same period in 2022. At the month’s end, agriculture and livestock products had a surplus of US$ 14 billion.
In August, the leading product in our agribusiness export line was soybean, which made up 27.1% of total exports and yielded US$ 4.2 billion in revenue, an increase of 12.3% compared to the same period in 2022. The second most exported product was corn, which saw an increase of 25.3% when compared to August 2022 and yielded US$ 2.2 billion. The other notable exports in the Brazilian agribusiness line were raw sugarcane, soybean bran, and fresh beef.
Brazil’s main export destination in August 2023 was China, with a share of 34.3%, followed by the European Union (13%), and the United States (5.9%). Other countries also had remarkable shares: Vietnam (3%), Japan (2.6%), South Korea (2.2%), Indonesia (2.1%), Saudi Arabia (1.8%), and India (1.8%).
Some destination countries showed a significant performance in August 2023 compared to August 2022. Among these countries, the highlights are Vietnam (+106.7%), driven by corn exports (an increase of US$ 210.3 million); and Mexico (+62.7%), driven by soybean exports (an increase of US$ 57.7 million).
Trade balance highlight: fresh beef
Brazilian beef production is expected to reach around 9.1 million tons in 2023. The estimates come from the National Supply Company (Conab). This performance positions the country as the world’s second-largest producer, second only to the United States.
When considering the global situation, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that prices for Brazilian beef will fall significantly in 2023 compared to those of its main competitors, Uruguay and Argentina. In terms of exports, however, Brazil is the world leader. For 2023, Conab forecasts that Brazilian beef exports should reach more than 2.9 million tons.
In 2023, up to August, Brazilian exports of fresh beef amounted to US$ 6.6 billion, a decrease of 24.8% compared to the same period in 2022. On the other hand, in terms of volume, the drop was 5.9%, falling from 1.4 million tons from January to August 2022 to 1.3 million tons in the same period of 2023. This reinforces the observation about the reduction in the Brazilian price.