Brazil fertilizer demand to recover in 2023/2024, industry consultant says

Aug 26, 2023

in Commodity News31/08/2023

Brazilian farmers of staples like soybeans and corn are expected to order more fertilizers in the 2023/2024 cycle driven by a fall in prices of crop nutrients, an industry consultant said during a conference on Tuesday.

MB Agro forecasts deliveries of up to 42.8 million metric tons of fertilizers like potash and urea in the grain season that begins in September. If confirmed, it would mark a 4% increase from 41.1 million tons in the previous marketing year, according to MB Agro data.

Aside from the incentive to buy at lower prices, there is demand in Brazil to rebalance soil nutrients after farmers applied less fertilizer in the 2022/2023 season, MB Agro partner Alexandre Barros said.

For the fertilizer lobby Anda, there are signs that Brazil will have “a year very similar to 2022,” said Ricardo Tortorella, the head of the group.

He preferred not to make projections, but cited consultants’ estimates that forecast fertilizer deliveries between 42 million and 43 million tons for the 2023/2024 cycle.Brazil imports about 85% of its fertilizer demand.Source: Reuters (Reporting by Roberto Samora, Writing by Ana Mano and Bill Berkrot)