Brazil is open to partnering with more Chinese commodity traders to increase its agricultural exports to China, Brazilian Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina has said.
Cristina stressed China’s importance to Brazil’s agribusiness sector, saying South America’s largest economy is open to new agreements and partnerships with Chinese companies.
“China’s biggest food trader, China Oil and Foodstuffs Corporation, is in Brazil and purchases our products, and other Chinese companies are partners with the Brazilian business sector,” she said.
Cristina said that Brazil is the third-largest fruit producer in the world, but a low-ranked exporter. The country only exports melon to the Chinese market and “would really welcome China opening its door to new Brazilian fresh fruits.”
She added: “We are working hard since Brazil has huge potential but has just started these exports. I want to see if this year we can open the Chinese market to Brazilian grapes, a product of the highest quality, as well as other fruits, such as mangoes, which we already export to other countries.
“Demand is growing, there are new consumption habits, more health demands and the need to cope with global warming. I believe it will be necessary to increase agricultural production in the world in a sustainable way, reduce food loss and waste, strengthen social protection policies, and reduce inequalities in access to safe and healthy food.”
Exports in Brazil’s powerful agribusiness sector increased 6 per cent last year, totaling US$45.3 billion, thanks mainly to demand from China, the country’s largest customer, which bought more than US$67 billion in Brazilian goods.
Data from the Foreign Trade Secretariat of the Ministry of Economy shows that in 2020 China-Brazil trade surpassed US$101 billion.
Brazilian exports reached a record level of US$67.685 billion and imports totaled US$34.042 billion, reported the CLBrief.
According to preliminary data from the Ministry of Economy, agricultural exports were one fifth of total foreign sales in 2020, and their growth contrasted with a drop in overall exports by 6.15 per cent.
