Paraguay H1 soybean exports to Brazil climb 370% y-o-y: Bank

Paraguay’s soybean exports to Brazil have increased 370% year-on-year in the first half of 2020, reflecting low water levels complicating the country’s typical export route and amid strong Brazilian domestic demand, the latest data released Monday from the country’s central bank shows.

In January-June, Brazil acquired 379,100 mt of soybeans from Paraguay, up dramatically from 80,600 mt in the same period of 2019, with Paraguay exporting a total of 3.96 million mt of soybeans in the first six months of 2020, up 8.5% on the same period in 2019.

“Although Brazil has had a record soybean campaign, almost all of its soybean is being exported to China. Due to this, Brazil increased purchases from Paraguay for domestic consumption,” Daniel Hidalgo, head of the central bank’s foreign trade department, told Agricensus Monday.

“Brazil will continue buying our soybeans. It is expected that this growth will continue in the second half, but expectations are that our second main export destination will be Russia,” Hidalgo said, without giving hard figures.  

Exports to Argentina, Paraguay’s largest soybean importer, reached 3.1 million mt, up 18.7% year-on-year.

According to Hidalgo, soybean exports for the whole of 2020 will grow 25% from the 4.90 million mt exported in 2019.

Soyoil exports totalled 253,100 mt in the January-June period, down 17.6% from the 307,400 mt exported in the same period of 2019, while soymeal exports declined 26.3% to 834,400 mt over the period, according to the bank’s statistics.

Nearly 600,000 mt of soybeans are in storage at Paraguayan ports. Very low water levels in the Parana river have halted the flow of barges to ports, the head of Paraguay’s maritime and shipping chamber, CAFyM, recently told Agricensus.

Paraguay produced 10.6 million mt of soybeans in the 2019/20 cycle, up 34% from the previous cycle and a new record, according to national production association UGP.

The USDA expects soybean production in Paraguay to reach 10.25 million mt in the 2020/21 season, it has said, with soybean exports in 2019/20 and 2020/21 to reach 5.9 million mt and 6.3 million mt respectively.

Rural sectors have also been urging the government to negotiate with Chinese authorities to open up this market for Paraguayan soybean.