Brazil’s Agricultural Production and Exports: Selected Data
Released: 2006-10-16T00:00:00

Brazil's Position in Global Agriculture

Global agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) totaled $1.65 trillion in 2004, about 4% of global total GDP. Brazil's agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) was $60.4 billion in 2004, 10% of its total GDP. In the United States, agricultural GDP equaled $117.1 billion in 2004, 1% of its total GDP.

Global agricultural and food exports totaled $823 billion in 2004, 9% of total global merchandise exports In Brazil, agricultural and food exports totaled $30.9 billion in 2004, 32% of its total merchandise exports. In the United States, agricultural and food exports totaled $73.7 billion in 2004, 9% of total U.S. merchandise exports.

Brazil's Commodity Production and Exports

Brazil is the world's largest producer of orange juice and coffee, and the second largest producer of soybeans, beef, and poultry. For many of these products, such as orange juice, soybeans, beef, and poultry, the United States and Brazil compete with each other in world markets. In 2005, Brazil was the world's leading exporter of soybeans, poultry (broilers), beef, orange juice, coffee, and sugar. It was also the world's fourth largest exporter of pork.

Soybeans

Production

Global soybean production rose to 220 million metric tons (mt) in 2005, from the previous year's total of 192 million mt. Production in Brazil also rose from 47.8 million mt in 2004 to 55.7 million mt in 2005. Brazil's share of world soybean production was 25% in 2005. The United States continued to be the world's top producer of soybeans, increasing production from 76.1 million mt in 2004 to 84 million mt in 2005. The U.S. share of global soybean production in 2005 was 39%. Argentina remained the world's third largest soybean producer with 40.5 million mt, up from 30 million mt in 2004. Argentina produced 18% of the world's soybeans in 2005.

Exports

Brazil's soybean exports increased in 2005 as well. Brazil exported 25.9 million mt of soybeans in 2005, up from 20.1 million mt in 2004. Brazil's share of world soybean exports was 40% in 2005. The United States exported 24.5 million mt in 2005, down from 30 million mt in 2004, just slightly below Brazil's total exports. The U.S. share of soybean exports in 2005 was 37%. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasters expect that the United States will become the leading exporter again in 2006. Argentina, the world's third largest exporter of soybeans, exported 10.5 million mt in 2005, up from 9.3 million mt exported in 2004. Argentina's share of world soybean exports was 16% in 2005. These three countries accounted for almost 93% of world soybean exports in 2005.

Poultry (Broilers)

Production

Global broiler production increased in 2005, totaling 58.7 million mt, up from 56 million mt in 2004. Brazil followed the trend and was third in production behind the United States and China with 9.4 million mt, up from 8.4 million mt in 2004. Brazil's share of world poultry production was 16% in 2005. The United States produced 15.9 million mt of broilers in 2005, up from the 15.3 million produced in 2004. The United States is the world's leading producer of poultry with 27% of world production. China produced 10.2 million mt after producing 10 million mt in 2004. China, the world's second largest producer of poultry meat, accounts for 17% of world production. The European Union produced about 7.6 million mt in both 2004 and 2005, about 13% of world production.

Exports

Global broiler exports increased significantly in 2005 to 6.7 million mt from 6 million in 2004. Brazil led the world in broiler exports in 2005 at 2.7 million mt (41% of global poultry exports) after exporting 2.4 million mt in 2004. The United States exported 2.3 million mt in 2005, up from 2.2 million mt in 2004. The U.S. share of world broiler exports was 35% in 2005. The two countries accounted for some 76% of global exports in 2005.

Beef and Veal

Production

Global beef and veal production increased in 2005 to 52.2 million mt from 51.3 million mt the previous year. Brazil produced 8.6 million mt in 2005, up from 8 million mt in 2004. Brazil accounts for 16% of world beef production. The United States led the world in beef and veal production with 11.3 million metric tons, slightly above the 11.2 million mt produced in 2004. The U.S. share of global beef production was 22% in 2005. The European Union and China were the next largest producers of beef and veal in 2005. The European Union produced 7.8 million mt in 2005, or 15% of the world's beef production, down from 8 million mt in 2004, while China produced 7.1 million mt, 14% of global beef production, and slightly above the 6.8 million mt it produced in 2004.

Exports

Globally, beef and veal exports increased from 6.5 million mt in 2004 to 7 million mt in 2005. Brazil led the way, increasing from 1.6 million mt in 2004 to 1.9 million mt in 2005. Brazil's world export market share for beef was 26% in 2005. Australia was next with 1.4 million metric tons (20% of the world export market share), nearly equaling its beef exports from the previous year. Argentina was third with 759,000 mt exported (11% of export market share) up from 623,000 the year before. The United States exported 313,000 mt in 2005(4.4% of world beef exports), an increase from the 209,000 mt exported in 2004, but still low compared to exports of 1.142 million mt in 2003, the year in which a case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or "mad cow" disease was discovered in the United States.

Pork

Production

Global pork production increased in 2005 from 91.4 million mt in 2004 to 94.2 million mt in 2005. The People's Republic of China led the world with 49.7 million mt produced in 2005, up from 47 million mt produced in 2004. China accounted for more than half (53%) of global pork production. The European Union produced about 21.2 million mt in both 2004 and 2005, 23% of world production. The United States produced nearly 9.4 million mt of pork in 2005, slightly more than the 9.3 million mt produced in 2004. The U.S. share of global pork production in 2005 was 10%. Brazil produced 2.8 million mt in 2005 (3% of global production) up from 2.6 million in 2004.

Exports

Pork exports increased from 4.6 million mt in 2004 to 5 million mt in 2005. The European Union was the world's largest exporter of pork with 1.3 million mt (28% of world exports of pork), a decrease from the nearly 1.5 million mt exported in 2004. The United States exported 1.2 million mt of pork in 2005, a substantial jump from the 989,000 mt exported in 2004. The U.S. share of world pork exports was 24% in 2005. Canada exported 1.1 million mt in 2005 (22%), up from 972,000 mt in 2004. Brazil was the world's fourth largest pork exporter in 2005, exporting more than 760,000 mt, 15% of world pork exports.

Orange Juice

Production

Global orange juice production was nearly 2.4 million mt in 2005, up from the 2.3 million mt produced in 2004. Brazil produced 1.4 million mt, up from 1.3 million mt in 2004. Brazil's share of world orange juice production was 59% in 2005. The United States produced 709,000 mt, up from the 693,000 mt in 2004, but substantially lower than its 1 million mt production in 2003. The U.S. share of global orange juice production was 30% in 2005.

Exports

Global exports of orange juice in 2005 were 1.65 million mt, down slightly from the 1.7 million mt exported in 2004. Brazil continued its dominance of world orange juice trade with nearly 1.4 million mt of exports, 83% of the global total, up from 1.33 million in 2004. The next largest exporter was Spain with 102,000 metric tons (6% of global exports), down from a high of 110,000 in 2004. U.S. exports (5% of the total) were also down from nearly 85,000 mt in 2004 to 75,000 mt in 2005.

Coffee

Production

Globally, coffee production totaled 112.7 million 60-kilogram (kg) bags in 2005, down from 120.7 million bags in 2004. Coffee production in Brazil decreased in 2005 to 36.1 million bags, down from 43.6 million bags in 2004. Brazil's share of world coffee production is 32%. The United States produced 161,000 bags in 2005, an increase from the 146,000 produced in 2004. Coffee is produced in the United States in only Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Vietnam produced 12.3 million bags in 2005, the second largest amount that year, but a decrease from the 14.5 million bags it produced in 2004. Vietnam's share of world coffee production was 11% in 2005. Colombia followed closely behind with 11.6 million bags in 2005 (10.2%), a slight increase from the 11.4 million produced in 2004.

Exports

Globally, coffee exports were down in 2005 at 85.6 million 60-kg bags, from 91.2 million bags in 2004. Brazil led the world in coffee exports in 2005 with 24 million bags, a decrease from 27.9 million bags exported in 2004. Brazil's share of world coffee exports in 2005 was 28%. The United States did not export any coffee in 2005, consuming all its limited production domestically, as it did in 2004. Vietnam exported 11.7 million bags (14% of the world's total) in 2005, a decrease from 14 million bags in 2004. Colombia was third in exports with 10.8 million bags in 2005 (13% of global coffee exports), down from 11 million bags in 2004.

Sugar

Production

Global sugar production decreased from 142.5 million mt in 2003/2004 to 140.7 million mt in 2004/2005. Brazil produced 28.2 million mt equal to 20% of total world sugar production. The European Union was the world's second largest producer of sugar with 21.6 million mt of production or 15.4% of the world's total. India, the third largest producer of sugar, produced 14.2 million mt in 2004/2005, giving it a 10% share of total world production.

Exports

Brazil is the world's leading exporter of sugar, accounting for 38% of global sugar exports. The United States with only 235,000 mt of sugar exports in 2004/2005 is a minor exporter. The European Union is the second largest exporter of sugar with more than 6 million mt of exports or 12.6% of total world exports. Australia, Thailand, and Guatemala are the world's third, fourth, and fifth largest sugar exporters, respectively.

Cotton

Production

Global cotton production in 2004/2005 was 26.2 million mt, an increase of almost 5.5 million mt over 2003/2004. China, the world's leading producer of cotton, produced 6.3 million mt, almost a quarter of total world production in 2004/2005. The United States is the world's second largest producer of cotton with production amounting to 5 million mt in 2004/2005 or 19% of total world production. India and Pakistan are the world's third and fourth largest producers, while Brazil with production of 1.3 million mt in 2004/2005 is the world's fifth largest producer. Its production accounts for 5% of the world's total.

Exports

The United States is the world's leading exporter of cotton with exports in 2004/2005 of 3.1 million mt, amounting to 41% of world cotton exports. Uzbekistan, Australia, and Greece were the world's second, third, and fourth largest exporters in 2004/2005, while Brazil with exports of 339,000 mt ranked fifth in world cotton exports.