SAO PAULO: Brazil could use a record amount of fertilizer this year, more than 32 million tonnes, even as low international grain prices decrease the incentive for agricultural expansion, an analyst said on Monday.
Many farmers in the world’s top soybean exporter bought fertilizers early in the year when there was a favourable price ratio with soybeans and corn, said an analyst. “There is a lot of fertilizer that was purchased with anticipation and it should be used throughout the year,” he told media.
Santucci said that Parana, Brazil’s No.2 agricultural state after Mato Grosso, had bought 40 percent of its expected fertilizer needs for the year by April. Planting of soybeans and the first of two corn crops starts in September in Brazil. Fertilizer use was a record 31.1 million tonnes in 2013, according to the national fertilizer association.
Brazil is the world’s No. 4 fertilizer consumer after the United States, India and China. It imported about 70 percent of the fertilizers it used in 2013, and some mining firms are trying to increase domestic production of ingredients like phosphate. Early forecasts point to a record 2014/15 soybean crop of more than 90 million tonnes in Brazil, one of few countries with land available for agricultural expansion. Farmers are likely to sow some new fields even as prices fall after a large US crop.
Comments
Comments are closed.