First Vessel of Brazilian Corn Arrives in China

The first grain vessel carrying 68,000 tons of Brazilian corn arrived at the Chinese port of Dongguan in the province of Guangdong last Saturday. This marks the opening of a new chapter of agricultural exports from Brazil to China according to the importing company COFCO International.

After the start of the Ukraine-Russia war, China quickly moved to replace its lost corn imports from Ukraine. The logical replacement was Brazil which is already the largest soybean exporter to China.

Brazil and China reached an agreement on phytosanitary standards for Brazilian corn exports to China last May and in November, 130 Brazilian grain facilities received the green light to start exporting corn to China. Brazilian corn exports started to flow to China almost immediately and the vice-president of COFCO International indicated that additional vessels loaded with corn are currently in transit to China.

According to Chinese customs data, the volume of corn imported into China fell 26.8% to 19.75 million tons between January and November of 2022. During that period, corn imports from the United States fell 26% and corn imported from Ukraine fell 32%.

The head trader of COFCO Trading indicated that the company wants to strengthen its agricultural cooperation with Brazil by importing more high-quality agricultural products such as grains, oilseeds, and meats.

Tags: vessel, phytosanitary standards, Ukraine, China, corn, grain, Brazil, agricultural exports, imports