{"id":50040647,"date":"2021-02-23T19:22:57","date_gmt":"2021-02-23T19:22:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.dialogochino.net\/?p=40647"},"modified":"2022-10-27T19:15:46","modified_gmt":"2022-10-27T18:15:46","slug":"40462-brazilian-agribusiness-booms-despite-international-tensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/40462-brazilian-agribusiness-booms-despite-international-tensions\/","title":{"rendered":"Brazilian agribusiness booms despite international tensions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Throughout 2020, Brazilian agribusiness witnessed political frictions<\/a> between Jair Bolsonaro\u2019s government and important international buyers. On countless occasions, undiplomatic comments by Brazilian authorities and even the president himself, along with his environmental policy, have overshadowed trade relations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

China, Brazil’s largest trading partner in the sector, has been the target of jibes from ministers and the president’s son that it has benefited from the pandemic. Meanwhile, France is threatening the back out<\/a> of a trade agreement between the EU and South American regional trade bloc Mercosur by constantly criticising the sustainability of agriculture in Brazil, the group\u2019s biggest economy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"
Despite constant attacks coming from members of the Bolsonaro administration, China remains Brazil\u2019s biggest trade partner (Image: ZUMA Press, Inc.\/Alamy)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Before long, friction had tangible consequences for agribusiness. In the middle of last year, JBS, the world’s largest meat processor, was removed<\/a> from the portfolio of Finland\u2019s Nordea Asset Management, which controls a fund of 220 billion euros. JBS\u2019 lack of commitment to sustainability was cited as a decisive factor.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

2020<\/p>\n

\n
\nwas the second best year for Brazilian agribusiness in a decade
\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

The crisis has led to the announcement of sustainability programmes by some large companies. All the same, momentary downturns<\/a> mattered little to the sector. With extraordinary exports, the favourable market environment muffled all other noise. 2020 was the second best of the decade for Brazilian agribusiness. <\/span><\/p>\n

“The agricultural business environment is the best in history. I’ve worked with soybeans for 32 years and never experienced a similar situation,” says Bartolomeu Braz Pereira, president of the Brazilian Association of Soybean Producers (Aprosoja). “The president always listens to us and we are very much in tune.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The government has met the sector’s expectations. We are lucky to have Minister Tereza Cristina as our representative<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The figures prove that the rural sector is experiencing a bonanza. In 2020, <\/span>Brazilian <\/span>agriculture and livestock <\/span>exported US$100.8 billion, 4.1% more than in 2019. The sector accounted for almost half (48%) of the country’s overall exports.<\/span><\/p>\n

Minister Tereza Cristina is almost unanimously popular in the sector. Since she took office at the beginning of 2019, the minister has been proactive in courting potential consumer countries through overseas trips. Since then, Brazil has opened more than 60 new markets in more than 25 countries for its agricultural products. The US began buying fresh beef, India bought chicken and South Korea bought fish. <\/span><\/p>\n