Brazil’s September corn exports largest on record

Brazil has exported its largest volume of corn on record for the month of September while soybean shipments reached 4.3 million mt, an 11% year-on-year decrease with higher volumes bound to Iran and other destinations partially offsetting lower exports to China, official customs data showed.

Corn

The country’s corn exports in September reached 6.8 million mt, the highest for this time of the year since the local customs office started reporting in 1997.

September corn exports declined 9% on the month but jumped nearly 140% year-on-year.

Monthly shipments lifted total corn volumes shipped since the beginning of the calendar year to 24.7 million mt, almost twice as much as the country had exported during the same period in 2021 when it faced a historical crop loss.

The only year when Brazil exported more corn during the first nine months of the calendar year was 2019 when it shipped 28.5 million mt.

Spain was the main importer of Brazilian corn in September, with over one million mt heading to the Iberian country.

Spain was followed by Japan (949,805 mt), Iran (908,392 mt) and Egypt (541,848 mt), all registering significant year-on-year increases compared to volumes bought in the previous year.

Mato Grosso was responsible for 42% of the corn exported in September while an extra 23% came from São Paulo and Paraná.

Northern and northeastern states that are part of the Northern Arc region originated 24% of Brazil’s September corn exports.

Soybeans

Brazil’s September soybean exports dropped 11% year-on-year mainly due to China’s subdued demand.

The Asian giant bought 2.7 million mt of Brazilian beans in September, compared to 3.5 million mt year-ago.

Lower Chinese purchases were partially offset by higher volumes bound to Iran as the Persian country increased its imports of Brazilian beans from just over 40,000 mt in September 2021 to 401,047 mt in September 2022.

Turkey, Spain and the United Kingdom also increased their procurement pace for Brazilian beans compared to the same month in the previous year, all importing over 50,000 mt more than they had year-ago.

The main origin of Brazil’s September soybean exports was Rio Grande do Sul (15%), followed by Bahia (14%), Mato Grosso (11%) and Goiás and Maranhão (10% each).

Brazil has exported 70.8 million mt of soybeans since the start of the calendar year, 6.8 million mt less than it had during the same period in the previous year.

China was responsible for 6.1 million mt of the accumulated year-on-year backdrop.