Brazil asks Canada to supply part of fertilizer purchased from Russia | The world

Brazil, one of the world’s largest food producers, is in talks to increase its purchases of these products from Canada, part of which will stop coming from Russia due to the current crisis.

The head of the portfolio, Theresa Christina Correa, is already scheduled to travel to Canada on March 12 to begin talks, the agriculture ministry said in a statement.

According to the report, the purpose of the trip was to increase potassium purchases from Canada, as Brazil is unlikely to import potassium from Russia due to sanctions imposed on the country over the military offensive against Ukraine.

Canada was the fourth largest supplier of chemical fertilizers to Brazil last year, after Russia, China and Morocco.

In addition to his visit to Canada this month, the Minister visited Iran last year to discuss the possibility of tripled the amount of fertilizer he buys from the Iranian state-owned National Petrochemical Corporation (NPC) to two million tonnes a year. .

Brazil, the world’s largest exporter of products such as soybeans, coffee, orange juice and sugar, depends on fertilizers imported for its agriculture, especially potassium, 95% of which must be purchased overseas. What do you eat.

At a press conference on Wednesday, the minister said there was enough fertilizer in Brazil until October, when the summer crop will begin to grow, as the new crop has already been planted.

He said the situation was not worrying at the moment and that Brazil had been exploring alternatives since last year to guarantee supply in the event of a fertilizer shortage due to the war between Russia and Ukraine.

“The next summer harvest, which starts in October, worries us, because the private sector has already confirmed that there will be enough stock by October.“, He said.

He said the government would launch the National Fertilizer Program in the coming days from last year, as the ministry had already warned of its need to consider this bias as a matter of food security and national security. The country produces 50% to 60% of the fertilizers it uses.

According to ministry figures, Brazil is the fourth largest fertilizer consumer, a major importer and responsible for 8% of global consumption.

Despite this, the Latin American company imports 80% of all the fertilizers it needs and in the case of potassium, that percentage rises to 95%.

Russia, the world’s largest fertilizer exporter, is the originator of 25% of fertilizers imported by Brazil. In terms of potassium, Russia accounts for 20% of world production and 28% for imports from Brazil.

Before him “DangerBrazil’s President Jair Bolsanaro has defended the approval of his government’s bill this Wednesday, claiming that Brazil’s depleted of potassium as a result of the war, allowing Amazon to exploit mineral reserves in the environment and domestic reserves.

“With the Russia-Ukraine war, there is a risk of a potassium shortage or a rise in its price. Our food security and agribusiness requires, from us, actions such as executive and legislative.”, Said the far-right leader in a message on his social networks.