MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguayan exports of goods reached US$ 12.845 billion last year

According to Uruguay XXI, 2025 will be a good year for the agricultural sector in terms of production

A study released in Montevideo Thursday by the Uruguay XXI Institute showed that the South American country's exports of goods reached U$S 12,845 million in 2024, which represented a 13% increase from 2023, driven particularly by cellulose exports and the recovery of soybean shipments after the drought the year before.

In 2024, a total of 1,311 companies exported goods generating around 64,000 direct jobs in key sectors such as industry, agriculture, and livestock. They exported 789 tariff items as Uruguayan goods reached 172 destinations, the Foreign Trade Report mentioned.

The main exports were cellulose, beef, soybeans, dairy products, and beverage concentrates, with soybean and cellulose scoring the highest volumes. Rapeseed, carinata, rice, and malt yielded negative figures in 2024. In the case of soybeans, foreign sales were recorded for 1,199 million dollars “with a significant increase in sales to China and Argentina, which quadrupled and sextupled respectively”. Although the international price fell 18%, the volume of exports increased by 259%.

Cellulose displaced beef as the main product after an increase in both price and volume exported, thanks to the UPM Paso de los Toros plant coupled with a slight deterioration in beef exports, whose price increase was not able to offset the fall in quantities. Cellulose accounted for 20% of total exports (US$ 2,545 million). Beef, with a share of 16%, came in second, while soybeans were in third place with 9%, followed by dairy products and beverage concentrate, both with a 6% share. Rice and vehicles totaled 4% each while meat by-products and wood were also tied at 3%.

The main destination was China, with 24% of the sales, followed by Brazil (18%), the European Union (14%), the United States (9%), Argentina (5%),

Imports of goods, excluding oil, derivatives, and energy, totaled US$ 10.875 billion in 2024, up 2.1% from 2023. Consumer goods accounted for a large part of this performance.

According to Uruguay XXI, 2025 will be a good year for the agricultural sector in terms of production, with good crop yields and a replenishment of the livestock stock. However, 2025 is not expected to match 2024's performance with exports of the main crops expected to decline slightly, although meat and dairy products are projected to grow given the livestock recovery.

In the case of pulp exports, there is still room for growth, given that the third mill is not yet operating at full capacity. According to the Office of Agricultural Planning and Policy (Opypa) of the Agriculture Ministry, agro-industrial exports will fall around 3% this year.

Brazil purchased US$290 million worth of dairy products, significantly less than in 2023 (US$403 million) while Algeria spent US$219 million, or 80% more than the year before. Of the total dairy product exports in 2024, milk powder represented 76%, cheese in all its varieties 13%, and butter 9%.

“Vehicles and wheat were the other products that followed soybeans and cellulose in terms of positive incidence, with growth of 36% and 43%, respectively. Vehicles ranked seventh in the export ranking, while wheat reached the tenth position. In contrast, rapeseed and canola, rice and malt were the products with the highest negative impact in the year,” the report added.