COFCO forecasts an increase in Brazil’s soybean and corn crops in 2025

China’s COFCO International is forecasting a potential increase in Brazil’s soybean and corn crops for the 2024/25 season and is preparing to expand a key port terminal next year, positioning it as one of the country’s biggest grain exporters.

In written answers to Reuters on Tuesday, Luiz Noto, the company’s new general manager for grains and oilseeds in Brazil, said the company would start operating the first phase of a new terminal at the port of Santos, Latin America’s largest, in the first half of 2025.

Once the second phase is completed in 2026, the company’s export capacity will increase from 4.5 million to 14 million tons.

“COFCO has tremendous growth potential and a solid plan to become even more significant in the markets in which it operates throughout Latin America, especially in Brazil,” Noto said in an email.

He said the expanded terminal would primarily handle soybeans and corn, but the company could also use it to export coffee, sugar and cotton.

Noto, who was appointed in May to head COFCO’s local grains and oilseeds division, worked at rival ADM for 21 years. He said COFCO will continue to invest in Brazil, focusing on combining increased production capacity with long-term sustainable growth.

Brazil, the world’s largest producer and exporter of soybeans, could potentially harvest around 170 million tons of the oilseed in 2024.

However, according to Abiove data for 2023/24, severe drought in the Central West region and heavy rains in the South reduced production to 152.5 million tons.

In the case of maize, smaller planted area and lower yields mean lower production and exports.

Despite lower-than-expected soybean production, Noto said that overall Brazilian soybean exports in 2024 will be successful, pointing to “higher accumulated exports compared to 2023,” without going into details.

“As for corn exports, our numbers show lower exports in 2024 compared to 2023, mainly due to a smaller crop and higher domestic demand for ethanol,” Noto said.

Tags: corn, COFCO, Brazil, soybean, crop forecast