Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture recently released a report that Brazilian agricultural exports reached a record $101.69 billion in 2018, an increase of 5.9% over 2017, due to strong growth in exports to the mainland of China.
According to the report, the mainland of China is Brazil's largest export destination for agricultural products. Brazil's total agricultural exports to the mainland of China in 2018 amounted to US$35.59 billion, an increase of US$9 billion over 2017. Hong Kong, China, is Brazil's fourth largest export destination for agricultural products, with exports of $2.5 billion in 2018.
The report said that Brazil's soybean exports reached a record 83.6 million tons in 2018, and strong demand from the mainland of China was the main driving force. According to the data, the consumption of Brazilian soybeans in the Mainland of China reached 68.8 million tons in 2018, an increase of 15 million tons over 2017.
In addition, Brazilian beef exports reached a record high of 1.35 million tons in 2018, an increase of 12.2% over 2017. Among of them, 322,300 tons of beef were exported to the mainland of China, an increase of 111,000 tons over 2017.
According to the report, agricultural exports accounted for 42.4% of Brazil's total exports in 2018, while agricultural imports fell by 0.8% to $14 billion.
