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668,386 tons of agrochemicals were imported into Brazil last year, according to a survey by the Brazilian Chemical Industry Association. The result represents a drop of 5.8% compared to Brazilian purchases of agricultural pesticides abroad in 2019, when 709,613 tons were imported.
In dollars, Brazilian imports of pesticides totaled USD 5.257 billion in 2020, according to Abiquim's monitoring report. The value meant a drop of 2.2% in relation to Brazilian external purchases of phytosanitary products, which totaled USD 5.374 billion in 2019.
Exports of agrochemicals produced in Brazil were immensely lower, totaling 47,067 tons last year, equivalent to USD 327,513 thousand. The figures represented a drop of 5% on the 49,542 tons sold by Brazilians to foreign markets, which were equivalent to USD 367,383 thousand. In dollars, the drop was 10.9%, the result of a large devaluation of the Brazilian currency, the Real, against the North American currency.
In the overall total of chemical products for all purposes, Brazil imported USD 41.4 billion in 2020, the total amount paid for the acquisition of more than 51.5 million tons. This represented a record in volume imported by Brazilians throughout Abiquim's entire historical monitoring series, which began to be recorded in 1989.
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In comparison with the results of 2019, a reduction of 6.3% was recorded in the monetary value of imports, but a significant increase of 8.2% in the physical quantities acquired. According to Abiquim, this was due to the serious global and national economic circumstances resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.
In addition to agrochemicals, Abiquim highlighted intermediaries for fertilizers, which were noticeably the main import item. Practically US$ 7.2 billion were purchased in 2020, equivalent to 61.7% (31.8 million tons) of the 51.5 million tons in external purchases of chemical products.
The main supplier countries were Asian, particularly China and India, which together represented 35%, more than a third of total Brazilian purchases last year.
For the executive president of Abiquim, Ciro Marino, the year 2020 will be remembered as a moment in which everyone, especially the chemical industry, concentrated their efforts on facing the health, economic and social challenges posed by the pandemic, ensuring full supply for the various value chains and avoiding chaos in people's daily lives.
“The entire industry, particularly the transformation industry, had, has and will continue to play a decisive role in facing the pandemic and in transforming the economic recovery movement into a sustainable cycle of recovery and growth. The Brazilian industry, especially chemistry, is a strategic asset for Brazil and must be supported by consistent, perennial and State public policies, especially in economic and commercial matters, drawn up from a vision that guarantees legal security capable of ensuring a business environment that gives you the conditions to demonstrate all your already proven competitiveness from the inside out. It is essential to resolve the limitations that Custo Brasil presents for the full exercise of its productive potential”, highlights Marino.
By: Leonardo Gottems | agrolink
