By Roberto Samora
SAO PAULO, March 14 (Reuters) – Brazil’s maize exports to China totaled just 70,000 tonnes in February, with grain shipments mostly concentrated in the new soybean crop, according to data released by the system. government statistics.
The volume represents a sharp drop from January, when exports to China totaled 983,700 tonnes of maize, out of a total exported by Brazil of 6.17 million tonnes in the first month of the year.
In February, Brazil’s total shipments also fell more than 60% from January to around 2.275 million tonnes, at a time when soybean exports often take the lead in ports, with the arrival of the new crop on the market.
“February is traditionally not a month for Brazilian corn exports, which will increase (grain) shipments from July,” said Paulo Molinari, corn analyst at consultancy Safras & Mercado, referring to the timing of soybean exports in the first half of the year.
“From there (in the second half), we will see if China will need corn volumes,” he added.
According to the assessment of the president of exporter AgriBrasil, Frederico Humberg, China bought “a lot” from the United States, which helps to explain the lower appetite for Brazilian cereals in imports in February.
In addition, he cited the flow of Ukraine, “which comes and goes”. “It’s still the cheapest, but with no delivery guarantee.”
Humberg also pointed to Brazil’s logistical difficulties in exporting corn and soybeans, with a record harvest of field-collected oilseeds.
“The huge volume of soybeans got bogged down in logistics with the corn that was being exported. And with that, ports have 30 to 40 days of queues for ships,” he said.
Brazilian soybean exports in February amounted to 5.2 million tonnes, of which 3.59 million corresponded to China.
With a delayed harvest, total shipments of Brazilian oilseeds fell by around 1 million tonnes year-on-year. February marks the beginning of the largest export volumes of the new soybean crop. (By Roberto Samora; Edited in Spanish by Javier Leira)