With Intense, Active, and Growing Participation in Foreign Trade, Brazil Reduces Wheat External Dependence. In 2022, Volume Rose to 3.07 Million Tons

With a Market Producing Much More, Brazil Shows a Market with High Activity. This Is Because, in 2022, with the Movement of More Than 8 Million Tons Between Imports and Exports, or in Other Words, a Record Harvest, the Country Registers a Reduction in External Dependence on Wheat, Which Also Expanded Foreign Trade. 

Regarding imports, in 2018, the country imported 6.8 million tons, and in 2022 the number reduced to 5.71 million, according to information from Secex, the Secretariat of Foreign Trade. In recent years, Brazilian production has grown by 76%. Currently, Brazil is the eighth-largest wheat importer in the world, but the expectation is that, in the coming years, this position in the ranking will change.

The export volume has been exponential compared to imports over the past five years, according to information from Conab, the National Supply Company. With a growth that represents triple the amount recorded in 2021, and nearly six times compared to 2020, it is evident that the country is producing more wheat, energizing the market. And if the dollar is high, it is clear that Brazil will want to sell more wheat abroad. A new record of 9.8 million tons is expected for 2023.

The increase in export market participation caused the Brazilian market, combined with imports, to reach a record movement in 2022. The sum of imports and exports registered 8.78 million tons, surpassing the movement of 2021, which was 7.34 million.

Experts assess that external factors influence this leverage of exports by Brazil. One of them consists of the drought that Argentina has been facing. Not to mention how the war between Russia and Ukraine, producers, and exporters of the grain, as well as fertilizers, has affected foreign trade. In less than ten days, the war will complete 11 months, and neither of the two Eastern European countries expected so much. And buying Russian wheat has become more expensive since the end of December.

Productivity of Crops 

Before research intensified in Brazil, production in the country had low yield in cultivation, as there were no proper agricultural technologies, which made production incipient, with a productivity of 800 kg/ha (kilograms per hectare). With the research, yields improved, recording numbers above 3,000 kg/ha in 2022. An average growth of 3.5% from 1977 to 2022.

Being one of the most consumed foods worldwide, second only to milk and dairy products, it is well known that the more economically developed a country is, the more its population increases the intake of commodities. In the last five years, there has been a recorded 8% growth in global wheat consumption and a 4.6% growth in production from 2018 to now.