Brazil’s Agribusiness Edge

Brazil today is what economists call a “food superpower.” From soybeans shipped to Chinese feed mills to coffee bound for U.S. cafés and orange juice poured at European breakfast tables, agribusiness is the backbone of Brazil’s role in the world economy.

In 2023, Brazilian agribusiness exports hit a record US$166.6 billion, accounting for about 49% of all the country’s exports. In 2024, they eased slightly—reflecting lower global commodity prices—but still reached a towering US$164.4 billion, almost half of Brazil’s total export revenue (48.8%). By value, no country exports more food than Brazil; FAO and allied research consistently rank Brazil as the world’s largest net exporter of food products.

This article explores why Brazil sits at the top of global food trade—unpacking the scale of the sector and the strategy behind its dominance. Along the way, we’ll ground the story in hard numbers, including a breakdown of all major agribusiness export complexes in 2024.

1. How Big Is Brazil’s Agribusiness Edge?

1.1 The macro picture

A good way to grasp Brazil’s agribusiness edge is to zoom out to the macroeconomy:

• Around one-quarter of Brazil’s GDP comes from agribusiness if you include the whole chain (on-farm production plus inputs, processing, logistics, and trade).

• The sector directly and indirectly employs roughly one-fifth to one-quarter of the workforce.

• In 2023, agribusiness exports were US$166.55 billion (a record), contributing 49% of all Brazilian exports.

• In 2024, exports dipped slightly to US$164.37 billion, down 1.3% from 2023, but still the second-highest value in history and close to half of total exports (48.8%).

In other words, Brazil’s agribusiness is not just big—it is the country’s primary interface with the world economy.

1.2 What exactly is “agribusiness” in Brazil?

Brazilian policymakers use agronegócio (agribusiness) in a broad sense: it covers everything from soybeans and corn to meats, sugar, coffee, forestry products, fruit juices, cotton, pet food, cocoa derivatives, horticulture, and more, plus the upstream and downstream industries that support them.

For export statistics, the Ministry of Agriculture groups products into large “complexes” such as:

• Soy complex (grains, meal, oil)

• Meats (beef, poultry, pork and by-products)

• Sugar and alcohol (sugar, ethanol)

• Forestry products (pulp, paper, wood products)

• Coffee (green, roasted, soluble)

• Cereals, flours and preparations

• Textile fibers (cotton), juices, cocoa products, horticulture, pet food, etc.

These categories are key to understanding the structure of Brazil’s export dominance.

2. Brazil’s Agribusiness Exports in 2024: The Scoreboard

According to data compiled from Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture and reported in early 2025, Brazilian agribusiness exports in 2024 totaled US$164.37 billion. The Ministry’s Secretariat of Trade and International Relations also detailed which complexes dominated export revenues.

Table 1. Brazil’s Agribusiness Exports by Complex, 2024

All values in US$ billions. Shares are of total agribusiness exports.

Notes:
– Values and shares for the six main complexes are sourced from Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture as reported in early 2025.
– “Other agribusiness products” is the residual group, calculated as the difference between the total and the summed value of the six main complexes, and its percentage share (about 15.2%).

A few points jump out:

1. Concentration with diversification: Six complexes account for 84.8% of export value; the remaining 15.2% is a surprisingly important “long tail” of cotton, fruit, juices, cocoa, pet food, and other higher-value niche products.

2. Soy rules everything: The soy complex alone contributes nearly one-third of all agribusiness export revenue.

3. Animal protein and sugar as pillars: Meats (16%) and sugar/alcohol (12%) form the second and third pillars, underscoring Brazil’s dominance in protein and caloric commodities.

These numbers are the quantitative backbone of Brazil’s agribusiness edge. But scale alone doesn’t explain why Brazil leads so many global markets. To understand that, we need to dig into land, technology, finance, policy, and geopolitics.

3. Scale: Land, Climate, and the Geography of Export Power

3.1 A continental farm with year-round production

Brazil is almost the size of the United States and spans multiple climate zones, but the agribusiness export engine is concentrated in a few core regions:

• Center-West (Mato Grosso, Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul) – a powerhouse for soy, corn, and cattle.

• South (Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina) – historically strong in grains, poultry, and pork.

• Southeast (São Paulo, Minas Gerais) – key for sugarcane, orange juice, coffee.

• MATOPIBA – the emerging frontier across Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, and Bahia, in the Cerrado biome.

The Cerrado savanna, once considered “unfarmable,” has become one of the most productive grain belts on Earth thanks to tropical agronomy, liming of acidic soils, improved seeds, and no-till systems.

Because of its latitude, much of Brazil can harvest two crops per year (soy in the summer, followed by a “safrinha” corn or cotton crop), dramatically increasing land productivity and exportable surpluses.

3.2 Expansion vs intensification

Brazil’s agribusiness scale story used to be told mainly as one of area expansion. But that picture has become more nuanced:

• A large share of new grain output in the Cerrado has come from converting pasture into cropland, especially outside the most heavily deforested frontier zones.

• In the MATOPIBA region—often described as Brazil’s “last agricultural frontier”—pressure on native vegetation remains intense, and expansion has involved more direct clearing of natural ecosystems.

To address both productivity and sustainability, Brazil launched a National Program for the Conversion of Degraded Pastures, aiming to convert 40 million hectares of degraded pasture to crop production over a decade, backed by an estimated US$120 billion in public and private investment.

The strategic idea: grow exports by intensifying production on already cleared land, reducing pressure on forests while leveraging enormous existing pasture areas.

3.3 Scale translated into trade dominance

The result of this geographic and technological transformation is striking: by 2023 Brazil had become the world’s leading exporter of at least ten major agricultural commodities, including soybeans, soybean meal, corn, sugar, coffee, orange juice, beef, poultry, tobacco, and cellulose.

FAO estimates show Brazil as the largest net food exporter in the world by a wide margin, with a net food trade surplus exceeding US$115 billion in 2023. That surplus is only possible because of its capacity to generate massive surpluses across multiple value chains simultaneously.

4. Strategy by Value Chain: How Brazil Wins in Its Main Export Complexes

4.1 Soy complex: The cornerstone of Brazil’s export machine

The soy complex—soybeans, meal, and oil—generated US$53.9 billion in export revenue in 2024, accounting for 32.8% of agribusiness exports. Brazil is responsible for roughly 60% of global soybean exports in recent years, and an even larger share of the world’s soymeal trade.

Strategic drivers:

• China dependence: China alone bought US$31.5 billion of Brazilian soybeans in 2024, equivalent to 73% of Brazil’s soybean exports and around 63% of all Brazilian agribusiness exports to China.

• Integrated logistics: Producers in Mato Grosso and other inland states rely on a network of road–rail–barge corridors to reach ports in the so-called Northern Arc (e.g., Itaqui, Santarém) and traditional hubs like Santos and Paranaguá, lowering average freight costs over time.

• Technological edge: Tropicalized soybean varieties, no-till farming, and precision agriculture (GPS-guided machinery, soil mapping, digital platforms) help Brazilian farmers maintain competitive yields even in harsh savanna soils.

The flip side: global scrutiny over deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions linked to soy expansion, particularly in the Amazon and Cerrado. Investigations show soy cultivation now reaching all nine Amazonian states, with some expansion in areas previously covered by forest despite a longstanding “soy moratorium.” This tension—between market power and environmental pressure—is central to Brazil’s long-term agribusiness strategy.

4.2 Meats: Beef, poultry, and pork as protein powerhouses

The meats complex generated US$26.2 billion in exports in 2024, or 15.9% of agribusiness exports. Brazil is a global heavyweight in animal protein:

• Beef: one of the top two exporters globally, with companies like JBS, Marfrig, and Minerva shipping to over 150 countries.

• Poultry: Brazil holds more than one-third of global chicken exports.

• Pork: smaller than beef and poultry but growing steadily, especially in Asian markets.

Strategic levers:

• Feed advantage: Abundant soy and corn make feed cheaper and more available, reinforcing a grain-to-protein value chain that captures more value per ton of grain produced.

• Market diversification: Brazilian meat exporters have tapped into China, the Middle East, North Africa, and the EU, leveraging halal certification, disease-free status in key regions, and trade diplomacy.

• Scale and integration: Giants like JBS operate across multiple continents and species, creating economies of scale in processing, logistics, branding, and R&D.

Here, too, sustainability is a strategic fault line. A large share of Brazil’s cattle herd is in the Amazon region, and NGOs have repeatedly linked beef supply chains to deforestation—especially through indirect suppliers whose land-use history is hard to trace. Brazil’s answer has been to scale up traceability systems, satellite monitoring, and zero-deforestation commitments, though enforcement remains uneven.

4.3 Sugar & alcohol: Sweet power and energy

The sugar and alcohol complex brought in US$19.7 billion in 2024—12% of agribusiness exports. Brazil is the world’s largest sugar exporter and a leading producer of fuel ethanol from sugarcane.

Brazil’s strategy in sugarcane is distinctive:

• Flex-fuel market at home: Since the mid-2000s, most Brazilian cars have been flex-fuel, able to run on gasoline, ethanol, or any blend in between. This creates a domestic buffer market for ethanol, giving mills flexibility to switch between sugar and ethanol depending on world prices and domestic fuel policy.

• Trade leverage: As global sugar supply tightens or energy prices rise, Brazilian exports become a key balancing factor for world markets, reinforcing the country’s influence in both food and biofuel discussions.

4.4 Forestry products: Pulp, paper, and plantations

Forestry products (mainly pulp and paper) generated US$17.3 billion, or 10.5% of agribusiness exports in 2024, and grew over 20% compared with 2023. Brazil is now one of the world’s leading exporters of eucalyptus pulp, thanks to high-yield plantations in the Southeast and Center-West.

Strategic aspects:

• Fast-rotation plantations: Eucalyptus plantations in Brazil can be harvested every 6–7 years, compared with much longer cycles in temperate countries.

• Export-oriented clusters: Pulp mills are often integrated with rail or port infrastructure, turning forestry into another scale-intensive, export-driven complex.

While these plantations are often on already degraded land, they also raise questions about monocultures, water use, and biodiversity—another area where Brazilian companies are under growing ESG scrutiny.

4.5 Coffee: A traditional export reinvented

Coffee is one of Brazil’s most iconic exports, and in 2024 the coffee complex (green, roasted, soluble) generated US$12.3 billion, or 7.5% of agribusiness exports, with export values growing more than 50% from the previous year.

Brazil remains the world’s largest coffee producer and exporter, but the strategy has evolved:

• Moving from bulk green exports to more differentiated segments (specialty coffee, certified sustainable coffee, roasted and soluble products).

• Targeting not only traditional markets (EU, U.S.) but also emerging middle classes in Asia and the Middle East.

4.6 Cereals & the role of corn

The cereals, flours, and preparations group accounted for US$10 billion in 2024, or 6.1% of agribusiness exports. This category is dominated by corn, where Brazil has become the second-largest exporter after the United States and a supplier of growing importance to China, the Middle East, and North Africa.

Corn represents a powerful second harvest following soy (the safrinha), allowing Brazilian farmers to extract more value from the same hectare of land and making the grain complex as a whole more competitive.

4.7 The “long tail”: Cotton, fruit, juices, cocoa, and pet food

The “Other agribusiness products” category—worth about US$25 billion in 2024—includes:

• Textile fibers like cotton

• Orange juice and other fruit juices

• Cocoa and derivatives, chocolate

• Horticulture, fresh fruits and vegetables

• Pet food and specialized feed products

Brazil dominates some of these niches too. For example, it supplies roughly three-quarters of the world’s orange juice exports, more than half of sugar exports, and is a key player in cotton and tobacco.

Collectively, this diversified base reduces risk: when soy or beef prices fall, other product lines can partially offset the shock, helping stabilize overall export revenue.

5. The Policy and Finance Architecture Behind Brazil’s Edge

5.1 Credit and the “Harvest Plan” (Plano Safra)

Brazil’s agribusiness sector is heavily shaped by annual credit programs known as Plano Safra (Harvest Plan). For the 2024–25 crop year, the government expanded commercial agriculture credit by 10% compared to 2023–24, to a record BRL 400.6 billion (around US$74 billion).

Key features:

• Subsidized interest rates for small and medium producers, via PRONAF (family farming) and PRONAMP (medium-size farmers).

• Preferential funds for sustainability, including low-carbon agriculture (ABC program), reforestation, and pasture recovery.

• Long-term investment credit for storage, irrigation, and machinery, which are critical for export competitiveness.

This credit architecture underpins the capital intensity of Brazil’s agriculture—allowing farmers to invest in combines, silos, irrigation pivots, and on-farm logistics that make large-scale export farming possible.

5.2 Public research and Embrapa

Behind Brazil’s tropical agriculture revolution stands Embrapa, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, along with universities and state research bodies. Over decades, they have:

• Developed soybean varieties adapted to acidic tropical soils and shorter day lengths.

• Pioneered no-till systems that reduce erosion and boost soil health.

• Improved pasture grasses, raising stocking rates per hectare and freeing land for crop expansion.

This long-run public R&D effort explains why Brazil can deliver world-class yields in environments that were once considered marginal.

5.3 Trade diplomacy and market opening

Brazil’s agribusiness edge is also diplomatic. In 2023, Brazil opened 78 new markets in 39 countries for its agricultural products—from beef and pork in Mexico and the Dominican Republic to cotton in Egypt and corn in China.

Key elements of this outward strategy:

• Active use of agricultural attachés in embassies to resolve sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) issues.

• Pursuit of trade agreements such as the EU-Mercosur deal (still politically contested in Europe but potentially beneficial for sectors like beef and poultry).

• A focus on Gulf states, North Africa, and Southeast Asia as growth markets for protein and processed foods.

Each new market unlocked represents another channel to absorb Brazil’s ever-growing exportable surpluses.

6. Logistics: Turning Inland Harvests into Portside Power

Agribusiness scale only translates into export dominance if crops and livestock can move efficiently from farm to ship. Historically, this was one of Brazil’s weak points: long, potholed highways from Mato Grosso to ports in the Southeast meant high freight costs.

Over the last two decades, Brazil has tackled this bottleneck through:

• Expansion of Northern Arc ports in states like Pará and Maranhão, significantly shortening the distance from central grain belts to export terminals.

• New railway projects (e.g., Ferrovia Norte-Sul, FIOL) to connect agricultural frontiers to ports more efficiently.

• Growth of barge fleets on inland waterways like the Tapajós and Madeira, making export movements more like those on the Mississippi in the U.S.

These changes have narrowed Brazil’s logistics gap with North American competitors. That said, infrastructure remains a strategic vulnerability: weather-damaged roads, port congestion, or delayed rail projects can still erode Brazil’s cost advantage in bad years.

7. Environmental and Social Constraints: The Achilles’ Heel of Dominance?

Brazil’s agribusiness boasts impressive scale and strategic sophistication—but it also faces mounting environmental, social, and reputational challenges.

7.1 Deforestation, soy, and cattle

Despite a long-standing soy moratorium in the Amazon (banning soy from recently deforested areas) and strengthened forest legislation, the reality on the ground is mixed:

• Soy cultivation has expanded rapidly across Brazil’s Amazon states and the Cerrado, including in areas that were recently forest or native savanna.

• The EU’s deforestation-free products regulation, which tightens import rules for commodities linked to forest loss, directly affects soy, beef, and other Brazilian exports.

• Large meatpackers such as JBS have faced long-running criticism over cattle traced to deforested land, particularly through indirect suppliers that are harder to monitor.

In response, Brazil is scaling up:

• Satellite monitoring systems that integrate public and private data.

• Zero-deforestation commitments from major companies.

• Programs like the conversion of degraded pastures aimed at meeting global demand without fresh forest clearing.

The success—or failure—of these efforts will shape whether Brazil can maintain its agribusiness edge in a world where carbon, biodiversity, and supply-chain transparency matter as much as volume and price.

7.2 Climate risk and yield volatility

Brazilian agribusiness is also on the front lines of climate change:

• The Central-West has already experienced episodes of heat stress and irregular rainfall that dent soy and corn yields.

• Climate models forecast increasing risk of droughts and extreme weather in key grain regions.

Farmers are responding with:

• More drought-tolerant varieties and precision irrigation systems.

• Integrated crop–livestock systems that improve soil structure and resilience.

But climate risk introduces volatility: Brazil’s dominance could be challenged in any year where weather severely disrupts harvests—even as, over the long term, its land and water resources still provide a structural advantage.

8. Market Concentration and the China Factor

A final strategic dimension of Brazil’s export edge is market concentration—above all, its reliance on China.

In 2024:

• Exports of agribusiness products to China totaled US$49.7 billion, down 17.5% from 2023 as Chinese demand for soy and corn softened and prices fell. China’s share of Brazilian agribusiness exports dropped from 36.2% to 30.2%.

• The United States became the second-largest destination, at US$12.1 billion, followed by the Netherlands at US$5.5 billion.

This illustrates a double-edged sword:

• On one hand, China’s gigantic demand for soybeans, meat, and pulp has been an enormous boon—supporting investment, infrastructure, and expansion across Brazil’s interior.

• On the other, a shock to Chinese demand or trade relations—for example, due to geopolitical tensions, disease outbreaks, or policy shifts—could reverberate through Brazil’s entire economy.

Brazil’s strategic response has been to diversify markets—deepening ties with Middle Eastern, North African, and South Asian buyers—while simultaneously solidifying its position in China with long-term supply relationships and promotional efforts.

9. Digital, Data-Driven Agriculture: The Next Edge

If the first wave of Brazil’s agribusiness success was about conquering land and climate, the next may be about mastering data, sustainability metrics, and traceability.

Trends to watch:

• AgTech and digital platforms: Brazilian startups and multinational firms are rolling out farm management apps, satellite-based monitoring, and AI-driven decision support tools, giving producers granular control over planting, fertilization, harvesting, and risk management.

• Carbon markets and low-carbon agriculture: Programs that reward farmers for reduced emissions, better soil management, and reforestation could open new revenue streams—and reframe Brazil not only as a food superpower but also as a carbon-efficient producer.

• End-to-end traceability: Meeting EU and other markets’ deforestation rules will require supply chains that can trace a shipment of beef or soy all the way back to the farm, using robust, auditable data.

These innovations matter because Brazil’s future competitiveness depends not just on being big, but on being verifiably sustainable in the eyes of regulators, investors, and consumers.

10. Conclusion: Scale + Strategy = Dominance (For Now)

Brazil’s dominance in global food exports isn’t an accident—or just the result of having abundant land.

It is the product of a multi-decade strategy combining:

• Scale: Vast tracts of cultivable land, a climate that allows multiple harvests per year, and the world’s largest net food surplus.

• Technology: Tropical agronomy research, improved seeds, no-till farming, and integrated crop–livestock systems that make the Cerrado and other regions hyper-productive.

• Finance and policy: Massive directed credit through Plano Safra, support for storage and logistics, and a sustained R&D ecosystem.

• Trade strategy: Active market opening, diversification of export destinations, and the ability to move from commodities into more value-added segments (processed meats, coffee, juices, pet food).

At the same time, Brazil’s agribusiness edge rests on a tightrope:

• Environmental pressure over deforestation and land use.

• Climate risk in key grain and cattle regions.

• Heavy reliance on a small number of large buyers, especially China.

The 2024 export numbers tell a clear story: US$164.37 billion in agribusiness exports, dominated by soy, meats, sugar, forestry products, coffee, and cereals, with a rising long tail of diversified products. The scale is unmatched; the challenge now is to keep that scale aligned with sustainability, resilience, and geopolitical diversification.

If Brazil can pull that off, its agribusiness will not just remain the engine of its own economy—it will continue to shape how the world eats, drinks, and fuels itself for decades to come.