Brazil too important a food producer to depend on fertilizer imports, industry says (updated)
23/08/2022 23:17
(Recasts with content from conference, adds quotes, background)
By Ana Mano
SAO PAULO, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Global fertilizer companies
operating in Brazil can increase local output of important crop
nutrients if the government continues to improve the regulatory
framework for the sector, industry representatives said on
Tuesday.
Speaking at a day-long industry event, major players said
Brazil is too important a food producer to depend on fertilizer
imports.
Marcelo Altieri, chief executive of the local unit of
Norway's Yara International YAR.OL , said during a morning
panel discussion that Brazil's reliance on imports represents a
threat to global food security, as the country is one of the
world's largest food suppliers.
On the sidelines of the event, however, Altieri declined to
comment on whether Yara would be interested in bidding for a
nitrogen-based fertilizer project up for sale by Brazil's oil
major Petroleo Brasileiro PETR4.SA . urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2WR2F5
Petrobras, as it is known, also is seeking bidders for
potash mining rights in the Amazon. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2ZN2XZ
Brazil imports about 85% of the fertilizer it requires,
according trade group Anda. In March, after the start of the war
in Ukraine, the government announced a plan to boost local
output. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2VE1D8
Mosaic Co MOS.N , the world's fourth-largest fertilizer
producer, said the outlook for Brazilian production began to
improve after Brazil passed new rules for the gas market.
The government also improved tax legislation that tended to
favor imports, a Mosaic executive said.
"To depend on imports not only penalizes the country, but
also the world," Arthur Liacre, an executive for Brazil's Mosaic
Fertilizantes, said during an afternoon panel discussion.
Liacre recalled that 25 years ago, local production of the
NPK fertilizer mixture was sufficient to cater to 55% of
Brazil's needs. Today it is a little below 10%, he noted.
Ibram, a mining trade lobby, said at the event that it backs
mining on Brazil's indigenous territory, which the Constitution
allows, as a way to cut fertilizer import dependence.
Toronto-based Brazil Potash Corp is planning to open a
potash mine in the Amazon. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2ZS28X.
In Southern Brazil, Australia's Aguia Resources Ltd AGR.AX
hopes to build the region's first phosphate mine by late 2023.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2ZT1A8
(Reporting by Ana Mano
Editing by Bill Berkrot)
((ana.mano@thomsonreuters.com; Tel: +55-11-5644-7704; Mob:
+55-119-4470-4529; Reuters Messaging:
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