This week’s Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce met in Sao Paulo where Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply Marcos Montes spoke of building partnerships with Arab fertiliser producers to establish production facilities in Brazil.

The minister had reached out to the Arab fertiliser industry during a tour of the region in May to strengthen the supply, which is currently 26% of Brazil’s total fertiliser imports.

Brazil is dependent on imports for 80% of its fertiliser requirements and is now particularly exposed with disruption to supplies from Russia and Belarus who between then supplied 25% of Brazil’s requirement.

In March this year, the Brazilian government announced a 30-year fertiliser strategy to address the dependence on imports.

It was described as an issue of national security and private investors are being sought to join with the Government to develop the industry, particularly the exploration of potash and urea. This would involve mining in the Amazonas state in environmentally sensitive areas but while environmental risks would be mitigated as far as possible, fertiliser production had to be the priority.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Brazil imported 4.15m tonnes of fertiliser in June, the highest monthly volume in the past five years. It is also the second consecutive month that fertiliser imports have been above 4m tonnes. Despite earlier concerns about supplies, there is increasing belief in Brazil that supplies will be adequate for the new planting season which begins in September.