Brazil nuts: global production to increase by 18%

Mundus-Agri: REUS/SUCRE. Due to the expected larger crops in the most important growing countries, Bolivia and Peru, the INC expects a noticeable increase in global production in 2022/23. The outlook for Brazil, however, is less rosy.

Significantly larger crop in Bolivia

After the Brazil nut crop in Bolivia, the most important producing country, was below average in the 2021/22 season, the International Nut and Dried Fruit Council (INC) is again expecting an increase of more than 25% to 66,000 mt for the 2022/23 season. The Peruvian crop could also be 10% higher according to current estimates, while a decline of 20% to 6,000 mt is expected in Brazil.

Commodity prices fluctuate strongly.

A significant challenge in all countries is the procurement of raw materials in the jungles, which has a massive impact on commodity prices. Added to this are fluctuating exchange rates. Lower production also contributed to the price increases, along with good demand, which meant that processing factories were willing to buy the goods despite the expensive prices.

High-quality standards

As already discussed at the INC Congress in May, the Brazil nut industry has developed massively in recent years and is up to date in the areas of technology and certification so that the high-quality requirements of the world market can be met without any problems. Bolivia and Peru in particular have significantly improved their factories, which of course has a positive effect on the quality of the nuts. Especially Peru has thus been able to capture a larger market share in the last ten years, to which the devaluation of the country's currency has also contributed. The strong Boliviano, which is more tied to the dollar, has a rather negative effect on Bolivian exports. In Brazil, meanwhile, another change can be observed: As the INC reports, the local crop is no longer completely exported to the world market, but domestic consumption is steadily increasing.