Commodity exporters face tighter margins

Even with the Brazilian agribusiness exporting more than $100 billion in 2020 and the weakened real giving the impression that sellers have a lot of money in their pockets, margins have become tighter, and the trend is expected to be repeated in 2021.

A study by the Applied Economics Research Institute (IPEA) shows that of the 10 main products shipped abroad, only beef, pork and coffee showed a positive variation in the average dollar price in 2020. All the others fell, with the average price in the sector 4.7% lower compared to 2019.

"When we look at the result in terms of volume and absolute value, we identify growth, but the average price received worries us," Ana Cecília Kreter, macroeconomic studies and policies researcher at Ipea, says. "We are exporting well, we have been able to maintain or export more, but what we are receiving, in practice, is much less," she adds.

According to her, this is not a one-off problem or a reflection of the pandemic, but a trend seen in recent years that should remain in 2021. "If there is no sharp drop in prices, it will be a good year, but the trend is bad, the last few years were of free fall," she says.

Despite the significant increase in the price of soybeans on the Chicago Stock Exchange, the average price of Brazilian exports fell by 2.2% in 2020 compared to 2019. This is because the country...

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