MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil imports record volumes of fertilizers, despite escalating prices

“The main source of fertilizers was Russia, with some 3 million tons,” points out GlobalFert.

Brazil has imported record volumes of fertilizers during the first half of the year, some 14,1 million tons, an increase of 14% over the same period last year. The data was released by GlobalFert a specialized portal and points out June as the month with the highest volume.

“The main source of fertilizers was Russia, with some 3 million tons, followed by China, Belarus, Canada and Qatar, with significant volumes also from Morocco, Oman and Germany”, points out GlobalFert.

Data supplied shows that the Port of Paranaguá led fertilizer imports and surpassed 2020 by 3% in import volume, followed by Santos, Rio Grande, and São Luís. São Francisco do Sul was the 5th port with the most inputs of fertilizers in the first half of the year.

“Potassium Chloride (KCl) was the most imported fertilizer. KCl and MAP mostly came from Russia, while Urea was imported mostly from Qatar. The price of MAP has been rising since the beginning of the year, from US$366/ton in January to US$573/ton in June, an increase of 57% in the average CFR Brazil”, points out the portal.

The price of Potassium Chloride had certain stability during January/February, US$ 244 the ton, but then it started to climb reaching US$ 273 the ton in June according to Brazilian data. At the beginning of the year demand was higher from Brazil to help with the second corn crop and the soil preparation both in the US and EU. But the big jump came at the end of the first half when demand for KCI from Brazil and US soared, and so did prices”, according to GlobalFert.