The increase in value was caused by the increase in average export prices of Brazilian agricultural products.
According to a survey prepared by the Trade Secretariat for International Relations of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, the volume of exported products fell by 12.6% in May, compared to May 2021.
The reduction in exported volume can be explained mainly due to the decrease in soybean exports, which fell by 4.3 million tons in May 2022 compared to May 2021.
The sector's relative share of total Brazilian exports reached 51% in May.
In the first five months of 2022, Brazilian agribusiness exports totaled $63.62 billion (+29.0%), historical value for the period. The previous record for the period (from January to May) was in 2021, when exports registered $49.33 billion.
The five largest agribusiness exporting sectors were: soy complex (53.9% share); meats (14.8% share); forest products (10.4% share); sugar and alcohol complex (4.4% share); and coffee (4.2% share).
The main exporting sector of Brazilian agribusiness is the soy complex, which registered a record value in May 2022, reaching $8.15 billion. The value was 6.2% higher compared to exports in May 2021. The main factor responsible for this record value was the increase in average export prices of products in the sector, which rose, on average, 39%.
Meat exports reached a record amount of $2.23 billion (+34.3%). This value was due to the increase in foreign sales of beef and chicken. Foreign sales of beef rose 49.7% and reached $1.08 billion.
The sugar-alcohol complex was the only one among the five main agribusiness exporting sectors to show a reduction in foreign sales. The exported value dropped from $848.23 million in May 2021 to $659.28 million in May 2022 (-22.3%). The decrease is mainly due to the reduction in the volume of sugar exported (-36.4%).
Brazilian agribusiness imports totaled $1.53 billion in May 2022 (+25.3%). Fertilizer imports totaled $3.11 billion, up 277.8% from May 2021. Imported volume increased by 56.7%, from 2.6 million tons to 4.07 million tons in 2022.
The main factor responsible for the increase in fertilizer imports was the increase in the average purchase price per ton, which rose 141.2%, reaching $763.9 per ton.
In May 2022, the top five fertilizer suppliers to Brazil were: Russia ($881.10 million; 28.4% share); Canada ($373.09 million; 12.0% share); Morocco ($3646.60 million; 11.7% share); United States ($152.02 million; 4.9% share); and Oman ($141.30 million; 4.5% share). ■