Paraná’s sugar producers had a good year in 2023. In terms of values, exports of the product grew by 21%, even though the volume destined abroad decreased by 3.7%. This is one of the issues analyzed in the Agricultural Situation Bulletin referring to the week of January 26th to February 1st. The document, prepared by the Department of Rural Economy (Deral), of the State Secretariat for Agriculture and Supply (Seab), is based on Agrostat, a platform of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock that monitors agribusiness trade.
In 2023, producers in Paraná exported 2.59 million tons of sugar compared to 2.69 million in the previous year. However, the improvement in international prices for the product caused US$1.26 billion to enter the State, compared to US$1.04 billion in 2022. One of the reasons that influenced the value was the drop in Indian production, which led to country to acquire sugar from Paraná, which has not happened since 2020.
These purchases were important, but the main destinations for sugar from Paraná were Algeria, with 352 thousand tons, and Malaysia, with 324 thousand tons. These two markets have had regular purchases for at least ten years, which made up for the absence of the Russians. After acquiring a record volume of 1 million tons in 2008, Russia stopped purchasing last year.
The attractiveness of sugar prices caused the production mix in Paraná to increase from 45% to 46% of the volume directed to the sweetener, according to data from the Sugarcane Industry Union – Unica. However, with a harvest of 35.2 million tons of sugarcane, ethanol production also increased, with 1.22 billion liters, or 12% growth compared to 1.09 billion liters in 2022.
CORN AND SOYBEAN – Paraná also had the best corn export in the historical series that started in 1997. There were 4.73 million tons in 2023. The previous record was in 2019, when 4.7 million tons were sold. The national scenario was also a record, with 55.8 million tons exported by Brazil.
With favorable weather most of the time, the soybean harvest advanced last week. More than 400 thousand hectares were harvested in the period, reaching 19% of the total area estimated at 5.8 million hectares. As rains occurred, there was a stabilization in relation to losses resulting from high temperatures.
POTATOES – The bulletin informs that so far 12.6 thousand hectares of potatoes from the first harvest have been harvested, which represents 86% of the crop surface, leaving 2.2 thousand hectares remaining. Of the total area estimated for the second harvest, of 11.3 thousand hectares, 47% has already been sown, which represents 5.4 thousand hectares. The Guarapuava and Pato Branco centers have 90% of their soil cultivation expectations.
The average monthly price received by potato farmers last November was R$52.08 for a 25kg bag of smooth potatoes, compared to R$128.90 in the previous week of 2024, the increase was 147.5%.
BEEF – The price of beef cattle has been under pressure in recent weeks, as a result of the low flow of stocks from slaughterhouses. At the close of this bulletin it was quoted at R$247.20. At wholesale, the front cost R$12.82 per kilo, while the rear cost R$20.66.
Source: Agência de Notícias do Paraná
