To meet the demand of mills for best quality wheat, the people of Rio Grande do Sul are importing Argentine grain in larger volumes than observed in previous years. Acquisitions from the neighboring country could reach 1 million tons, compared to a maximum of 400 thousand tons at other times. The calculation was made by analyst Elcio Bento, from the consultancy Safras & Mercado. According to Bento, 542 thousand tons of Argentine cereal have crossed the border so far, making Rio Grande do Sul the second largest importing unit of the federation, behind São Paulo, with 675 thousand tons. The demand for mills in Rio Grande do Sul is 1.9 million tons. “We had to appeal to our biggest partner in Mercosur”, says Hamilton Jardim, coordinator of the Winter Wheat and Cereals Commission of the Agriculture Federation of Rio Grande do Sul (Farsul).
Last year, Rio Grande do Sul practically did not import wheat. According to Benedict, the State exported more than 3 million tons. The reason for the shortage in 2024 is the failure of the 2023 harvest, caused by El Niño. “It was one of the worst years for our harvest”, highlights the president of the Wheat Industry Union (Sinditrigo/RS), Gerson Pretto, for whom imports this year should be around 750 thousand tons.
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In addition to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay may be possible suppliers. Paraná, the fifth largest producer in Brazil, after Rio Grande do Sul, would be an alternative, but it also faced effects of El Niño. Today, Argentine grain arrives in the Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre for R$ 1,312 per ton, a value that should not cause, at least for now, an increase in the price of flour for consumers, according to Elcio Bento and Hamilton Jardim. Pretto, however, does not rule out the possibility. “Seventy percent of the price of flour is the price of wheat,” he says.
