Agricultural exports from RS reach US$ 4.6 billion in the 3rd quarter

With sales of US$4.6 billion, agribusiness exports from Rio Grande do Sul registered an increase of 0.1% in the third quarter of 2023 compared to the same period of the previous year. The increase in the value of external sales in Rio Grande do Sul in the period occurs amidst a scenario of falling average prices for the State’s main products. Sales of the soy complex registered growth of 3.5% (total of US$ 2.2 billion), while the tobacco segment and its products recorded the biggest increase in the quarter (total of US$ 723.77 million; +38, 7%). The data are from the RS Agribusiness Indicators bulletin, released this Tuesday (14/11) by the Department of Economics and Statistics, linked to the Secretariat of Planning, Governance and Management (DEE/SPGG). According to the document, the greater availability of soybeans, as a result of the 35.8% increase in the 2023 harvest compared to the previous one, maintained positive performance despite the 18.4% drop in average prices of the oilseed exported by the State . Prepared by researchers Sérgio Leusin Júnior and Flávia Félix, the material provides information on exports in the third quarter and year-to-date figures and formal employment in the field. “Although production in Rio Grande do Sul increased in relation to the previous harvest, movements in international prices followed in the opposite direction, restricting the growth potential provided by the increase in the availability of raw materials for export”, highlights the researcher. Increases were also recorded in the segments of agricultural machinery and implements (total of US$ 131.24 million; +12.2%) and cereals, flours and preparations (total of US$ 236.52 million; +2.4%). At the other end, the sectors of forest products (total of US$ 267.42 million; -41.6%), meat (total of US$ 653.70 million; -12.9%) and leather and fur products (total of US$ 77.82 million; – 13.6%) had a reduction in value in exports during the period. Agribusiness exports in the third quarter of 2023 represented 74.1% of the State’s total foreign sales in the period.

Third quarter

In the tobacco sector and its products, the increase in sales was driven by the performance of non-manufactured tobacco (total of US$ 663.44 million; + 41.4%). In forestry products, the reduction in value in cellulose exports (total of US$ 179.09 million; -43.8%) was decisive for the result. In the meat sector, the biggest reduction occurred in beef (total of US$ 65.24 million; -49.6%), while in pork (total of US$ 174.45 million; -3.5%) and in chicken meat (total of US$ 367.21 million; -6.3%) the falls were milder. China maintained the first position among the main destinations for agribusiness exports from Rio Grande do Sul in the second quarter, with 37.6% of the total, followed by the European Union (16.6%), the United States (4.5%), Vietnam (4 .0%) and South Korea (3.2%).

Accumulated from 2023

Between January and September, agribusiness exports from Rio Grande do Sul totaled US$12.0 billion, an increase of 3.1% in value compared to the first nine months of 2022 and corresponding to 73.1% of Rio Grande’s total foreign sales of the South. Tobacco and its products are once again highlighted among the main segments in the area, which reached the highest value in the historical series starting in 1997, with sales of US$ 1.78 billion (+27.3%). The soybean complex also advanced in the period (total of US$ 4.40 billion; +9.4%), driven by sales of soybeans (total of US$ 2.65 billion; +24.1%) and soybean bran of soybeans (total of US$ 1.34 billion; +7.9%), which offset the drop in soybean oil trade (total of US$ 409.63 million; -36.4%). The meat sector (total US$ 1.97 billion; -2.6%), cereals, flours and preparations (total US$ 1.25 billion; – 4.7%) and forestry products (total US$ 1.02 billion; -20.7%) had lower performance compared to 2022. In meat, the 37.4% reduction in beef sales (minus US$ 127.27 million) had the biggest impact. In the cereals segment, wheat sales fell 20.6% (minus US$ 151.82 million), after a historic performance last year. Among forestry products, cellulose showed a 20.7% drop in trade with abroad (minus US$183.65 million).

Formal employment

In a traditional period of decline in the supply of jobs in the sector, agribusiness in Rio Grande do Sul recorded a negative balance of 8,669 formal jobs in the third quarter of 2023. In the same period of 2022, the balance was negative at 3,071 jobs. Vacancies in the manufacturing of tobacco products had a negative balance of 8,557 jobs, compared to 7,224 fewer jobs in the same period of 2022. The slaughter and meat manufacturing sector had a negative balance of 1,264 jobs, while in the third quarter of last year it had a positive balance of 1,027 vacancies. Considering the three segments that make up agribusiness (“before”, “inside” and “after” the gate), the segment “within the gate”, formed by agricultural activities, was the only one with a positive balance (832 more jobs). The “after the gate” segment, made up especially of agro-industrial activities, and the “before the gate”, related to sectors dedicated to the supply of inputs, machinery and equipment, presented a negative result (9,286 and 215 fewer jobs, respectively). In the year to date, between January and September, the balance of jobs created in Rio Grande do Sul’s agribusiness was 5,840 positions. In September, the number of active contracts with a formal contract in the sector in Rio Grande do Sul reached 370,059. The slaughtering and manufacturing of meat products sector is the most representative in the State (66,593 links), followed by the wholesale trade of agricultural and agro-industrial products (50,127 links) and the manufacture of tractors, agricultural machinery and equipment (35,236 links).

(Text: Vagner Benites/Ascom SPGG)

(Fernanda Toigo/Sou Agro)