Sep 24, 2010
September Brazilian Corn Exports Could Set a New Record
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Corn exports from Brazil are moving along at a near record pace. Dry weather at the ports of Paranagua and Santos has allowed vessel loading to continue almost nonstop in recent weeks. As a result, September corn exports from Brazil could set a new monthly record. Monthly corn exports out of Brazil have not been this high since October 2007 when 1.8 million tons of corn were exported.
One of the reasons for the increased corn exports is the Brazilian program called PEP, which subsidizes the cost of freight for moving the corn from the interior of Brazil to the ports. The Brazilian government has conducted a series of auctions on a weekly basis for the last 2-3 months. At these auctions, the government purchased the corn at a guaranteed minimum price from the farmers and then subsidized the cost of freight to move the corn into the export market. The total purchases by the government under this program are approximately 11 million tons and 9 million tons of the purchased corn is destined for export.
Conab is estimating that Brazil will export 9.5 million tons during the 2009/10 crop year, which would be the second highest corn exports for Brazil only trailing the 2006-07 season when 10.9 million tons were exported.
Major buyers of Brazilian corn include Spain, Portugal, Holland, South Korea, Malaysia, as well as other Asian and Middle Eastern countries.