Brazil Ag Ministry Seeking Duty-Free Quota for 750,000 Tonnes Of Wheat

A downturn in wheat production due to a combination of lower acreage and unfavorable weather is prompting Brazil's agriculture ministry to seek approval from the country's foreign trade chamber Camex for a duty-free import quota of 750,000 metric tons of wheat from outside the Mercosur trade bloc.One of the exporters eyeing the market is Russia, and the head of Brazil's food safety agency told Reuters a big hurdle is that the issue of a bilateral phytosanitary agreement between the two countries had been resolved. As for U.S. wheat, Brazil has ranked anywhere from fifteenth (2012/13) to second (2013/14) in terms of importers of U.S. wheat. They were the seventh largest buyer in 2016/17 with 1.207 million metric tons. Currently, export commitments to Brazil total 94,900 metric tons for 2017/18 (all shipped) compared to nearly 1 million metric tons at this point one-year ago which were mostly shipped.