🌱Soybeans: 190-210 million tons (more than 50% of global exports).

🌽Corn: 170-185 million tons (more than 40% of global exports).

🌾Wheat (Argentina): Exports over 10 million tons.

📥❓But there's a key statistic that local producers don't like to publicize: the share of added value remaining in Latin America has fallen sharply over the past two decades. Only a small portion of the final profits ends up in the region. Where does the money go?

1.    Logistics

The cost of shipping a ton of soybeans from Mato Grosso state (central Brazil) to the port of Santos can reach $70-$90 per ton (by truck). Meanwhile, sea freight from Santos to Shanghai is often less than half that amount, depending on global rates.

The difference in margins is staggering: up to 70% of the transportation premium is retained by foreign shipping and trading companies (Cargill, ADM, Bunge, COFCO).

2.    Low degree of processing

Brazil exports over 65% of its soybeans as low-cost raw beans, primarily to Asia. The share of high-margin, highly processed products (such as isolated soy protein used in the food industry) does not exceed a few percent of the total volume.

Converting just 10-15% of the volume into highly processed products would give the region an additional $9 billion in GDP annually.

3.    Infrastructure and energy issues

For example, in Argentina, annual gas shortages during the winter regularly force large processing plants to reduce capacity (by up to 60%, according to some sources) to prioritize domestic consumers.

🗺🚚Who's already restructuring the chain?

✅Uruguay is implementing the "Estrategia Uruguay Agrointeligente" – a comprehensive plan that provides incentives for investment in sustainable agriculture and processing, including tax breaks and co-financing of capital expenditures.

✅Brazil is focusing on domestic processing and the use of biofuels to retain a greater share of value within the country. In September 2024, the "Soja Mais Verde" bill was approved. According to it, the export duty on soybean meal will increase from 6.5% to 9.5%, but will be completely waived for high-value-added products such as isolated and textured soy protein. This is a direct legislative incentive for investment in processing capacity.

🏦🧮According to calculations by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), if Latin America increases its share of agricultural processing to the level of Asian countries (40-50%), the region will receive an additional $140 billion in GDP per year.

Senior analyst of IPER Kostyleva A.A.

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