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U.S. Set to Lose Top Spot as Global Corn Exporter to Brazil
USAgNet - 02/20/2018

Brazil could eclipse the United States as the world's top exporter of corn within five years, ending decades of U.S. dominance over the market for one of the world's basic foodstuffs. According to Reuters, Brazil is growing in stature as a global agricultural powerhouse. American farmers, who for generations have boasted of being the world's breadbasket, now must struggle with grains prices and aging infrastructure. Washington's efforts to renegotiate trade agreements also could affect exports.

At the same time, cheaper supplier Brazil is reaping the benefit of massive investment in export infrastructure. In 2012/13, the South American country passed the United States as top soy exporter. Three years later, Russia displaced America as No. 1 wheat supplier.

Billions of dollars of investments in Brazil's ports, particularly in the more accessible north, have ended years of chronic delays for exporters, making shipments cheaper and more reliable and boosting buying from consumers such as China. In addition to soybeans, Brazil is the top global supplier of beef and sugar.

Brazil lags the United States in road infrastructure, but gradual improvement in that area is expected. U.S. farmers face their own challenges. A crumbling lock and dam system on Midwest rivers has hurt their reputation as the world's most reliable grain suppliers.

The U.S. Agriculture Department projects U.S. corn exports will fall by 6.2 million tonnes, valued at around $1 billion, in the current marketing year. Brazil corn exports meanwhile are expected to rise by 1 million tonnes from a year ago, speeding Brazil's ascendancy to top exporter.

U.S. corn is expected to account for just 33.8 percent of global corn exports in the 2017/2018 marketing year, down from 62.6 percent a decade ago, according to USDA projections. Brazil's projected corn exports of 35 million tonnes would account for 22.7 percent of global shipments, Reuters reports.

Just 20 years ago, Brazil exported just 6 million tonnes, less than 1 percent of the world total.

The most recent data from Brazil's Trade Ministry showed that the country exported 3.02 million tonnes of corn in January, more than double the 1.45 million tonnes it shipped overseas a year earlier.


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