Brazilian Regions for Agribusiness
Brazil is known as a prominent exporter of primary products. Find in this article what are the most promising areas to each product relevant to exports in the country.
The agribusiness in Brazil is not divided in regions that only produce one kind of grain as it used to be. Nowadays, the production still have some particularities, but it is not concentrated as formerly.
We have selected five products to be approached in this article, which are: soy, tomato, coffee, orange and sugar cane. We are going to point out what are the most important areas for each product and how Brazil is exporting and making money out of this business.
Soy
Soy has become one of the most important grain for Brazilian exports in the last years. Its production is primarily concentrated in Mato Grosso do Sul and then in Paraná, Central-West and South regions, respectively.
According to ABIOVE (Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries), in 2011 Brazil exported 48.982 thousand tonnes of soy (contabilizing grain, oil and bran). These exports occure mostly to China, that has suspended imports from Argentina and has now started to import the Brazilian soy. The European Union is also a major destination for Brazilian exports.
The soy production is really being encouraged by the Brazilian government, as a proiminent product for the domestic economy. In ABIOVE website, which has content in English, there are many projects related to the improvement of soy production .
Tomato
Tomato is the most important exportation vegetable in Brazil. Being the third biggest tomato producer in the world (only behind the USA and Spain), Brazil produces 3.5 million tonnes of tomato per year(58t/ha).The vegetable is being produced in almost every Brazilian state, but mostly in Goiás, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Bahia.
The producers in Minas Gerais and Goiás are related to the industrial production, once the topography and climate are very indicated to this kind of tomato growth.
Despite the fast growth of the tomato market, the Brazilian production is not enough to reach China and United States standard of costs.
Coffee
Brazil is famous for carnival, beautiful women and coffee. The country is the biggest coffee producer in the world, exporting 2/3 of the whole grain produced in the national territory, being responsible for 30% of the coffee production in the world.
The grain is produced in several states, but mostly in Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Espírito Santo and Paraná (almost all of them from southeast, with exception from Paraná - South).
In 2011, the country reached a historical record of 30.09 million exported sacks. The USA was the major buyer of the Brazilian coffee last year, buying 21% of the coffee exported by Brazil.
The forecast to 2012 is very exciting once statistics done by specialists point that production will achieve really good numbers, according to business and agreements done with countries like the US and China.
Orange
Brazil plays an important role when it comes to orange cultivation . The country is the biggest orange juice exporter in the world, being responsible for 80% of the global production.
The southeast is responsible for the major production of orange in the country, producing 78% of the exports. In 2011 the Brazilian orange juice exports market achieved US$ 203,6 million.
Brazil exported 155,1 thousand tonnes of orange in 2011, but in 2010 that number was better, reaching 207,4 thousand tonnes in the same period. In 2012 only in February the exportation of orange juice increased 18.63% according to the same period in the last year.
Sugar cane
The sugar cane production, according to UNICA (Union of Sugar Cane Industry), is mostly concentrated in the south central region and in the northeast.
Sugar cane is very important for Brazil, specially for the ethanol production. Some irregularities in industries related to the production affected the Brazilian ethanol exportation. Industries were not respecting the country's forest code, so the government punished them by reducing the benefits for ethanol exportation.
According to researches, only in January the exportation decreased 7% in comparison to 2011. These irregularities are related to sustainable and social aspects that the Brazilian government is trying to solve.
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