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Brazil corn exports remain subdued so far in March: trade department data

Brazil’s corn exports in the first three weeks of March were about 406,300 mt, which was lower than the pace of exports during the same period last year, Secretariat of Foreign Trade data showed.

Last year, Brazil exported about 826,700 mt of corn in March, at a rate of 43,500 mt/day, compared with 27,100 mt/day so far in March this year, the data showed Monday. In February, Brazil exported 346,400 mt of corn.
Record exports during the last marketing year and losses in the first corn crop yields in southern parts of Brazil this season have depleted domestic stocks.

Domestic corn prices have surged on the back of strong local demand, mainly from livestock and ethanol manufactures, which has reduced the corn available for exports.

As of Friday, average weekly corn prices in the state of Mato Grosso was Real 39.54 ($7.69)/60 kg, up 70.3% from a year ago, according to the Instituto Mato-Grossense de Economia Agropecuria, or IMEA.

Mato Grosso is the largest corn producing state in Brazil and accounts for over 50% of the country’s corn exports.

Moreover there are concerns of slowing corn demand due to coronavirus pandemic.

Various steps taken by governments across the globe to control the spread of coronavirus is also expected to cause some difficulties for global trade.

At this moment, corn prices are still rising, but the uncertainties over trade is likely to reflect on maritime movements in the coming days, which may affect corn shipments, national agricultural agency Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento, or Conab, said in a report on Monday.

Brazil is expected to export 34 million mt of corn in 2019-20, which refers to the period between February 2020-January 2021, as compared with the estimate of 41.17 million mt in the previous marketing season, according to Conab.
Source: Platts

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