Tuber market: rising giant
Brazilian agribusiness exported US$100.8 billion in 2020.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, Brazilian agribusiness exported more than US$100 billion in 2020, the second highest value in the country's history. Following this trend, the market for vegetables, roots and tubers, which has shown gradual growth since 2015, increased by 27.8% in relation to January-March 2020 and 2021.
291% increase in exports between February 2020 and 2021.
The group of tubers is formed mainly by potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, radishes and cassava. Within Brazilian foreign trade, tubers accounted for US$134 million of exports in 2019. And, according to The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), they showed 291% growth in the one-year period between February 2020 and February 2021 .
Market for vegetables, roots and tubers on the rise.
Sweet potato, for example, which has been highlighted in recent years for the sustainable manufacture of ethanol, is responsible for approximately US$4.5 million in this market, making the country the 18th largest exporter of the product in the world.
The main import markets for roots and tubers are India, Vietnam and Egypt, together responsible for approximately US$91.11 million of Brazilian exports in this sector in 2019. In addition, despite being already consolidated in these countries, Indian imports, for example , showed 937% growth in 2021. Therefore, the production and export of tubers proves to be a market that is not only stable, but also promising and on the rise in the year 2021, gaining more and more space in Brazilian foreign trade.
By Ana Beatriz Teodoro
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