The market for non-traditional agricultural exports

2.6 TRENDS IN NTAEs VS TAEs: BRAZIL

The importance of these NTAEs in terms of countries' overall trade in agricultural produce and their importance relative to traditional agricultural exports (TAEs) vary from country to country. For illustrative purposes, we have chosen to look in more detail at the trends in the volume and value of selected NTAEs and TAEs from Brazil during the past five years. These data are presented in Tables 2.9 and 2.10.

Table 2.9 presents the trend in exports of selected NTAEs and TAEs by volume. Between 1997 and 2001, exports of TAEs increased by 55 percent. The most marked increase was in soya beans and sugar exports. In percentage terms, the increase in exports of the selected NTAEs was even more pronounced; up nearly 145 percent over the five year period. The growth in exports of cantaloupes, grapes and mangoes was particularly strong, but most NTAEs saw traded volumes increase.

Table 2.9: Brazil - comparison of the trend in export volumes of selected NTAEs vs. selected TAEs, 1997 to 2001

Selected NTAEs	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
	tonnes
Apples	20 725	10 706	57 438	64 480	35 786
Avocados	260	296	746	464	606
Cantaloupes	45 729	65 005	65 453	60 912	99 435
Carrots	132	8	263	1 061	3 689
Cucumbers	5	31	630	341	247
Eggplants	115	381	2 036	1 778	682
Fruit, prepared	21 573	23 610	25 696	25 248	30 838
Grapes	3 705	4 406	8 083	14 363	20 660
Mangoes	23 370	39 186	53 765	67 172	94 291
Papayas	7 869	9 878	15 709	21 513	22 804
Pepper	13 962	17 249	19 617	20 469	36 975
Pimento (Allspice)	7	547	1 079	4 072	6 171
Pineapples	12 956	13 003	15 815	16 063	14 457
Sweet Corn Prep. or Pres	1 959	2 216	2 395	3 221	5 436
Total, selected NTAEs	152 367	186 522	268 725	301 158	372 077
Soya bean cake	10 013 360	10 446 980	10 430 880	9 389 189	11 270 730
Cocoa beans	4 915	5 582	3 918	1 900	3 272
Cocoa butter	20 807	24 931	22 065	30 399	24 046
Cocoa paste	8 188	10 610	9 232	9 474	10 322
Cocoa powder & cake	22 541	22 916	21 051	21 171	23 400
Coffee, green	868 439	995 212	1 271 772	967 042	1 252 217
Soya beans	8 339 590	9 274 752	8 917 210	11 517 260	15 675 540
Raw sugar	3 844 224	4 788 981	7 826 984	4 346 076	7 089 873
Refined sugar	2 527 746	3 575 266	4 273 257	2 158 348	4 083 343
Tobacco	318 984	300 513	343 029	341 488	435 395
Total, selected TAEs	25 968 794	29 445 743	33 119 398	28 782 347	39 868 138

Source: FAOSTAT

Table 2.10 presents similar data for export values. What is striking from this table is that despite TAEs increasing by 55 percent, dollar earnings from these commodities actually fell, from US$10.9 billion in 1997 to US$9.3 billion in 2001.^[12] Total earnings on these selected NTAEs fared somewhat better, rising from US$170 million to US$257 million, but this increase failed to match the increase in export volumes. This reflects both declining unit values for NTAEs over the period and, to a lesser extent, a shift towards a higher share of low(er) value NTAEs in the total.

Table 2.10: Brazil -comparison of the trend in export values of selected NTAEs vs. selected TAEs, 1997 to 2001

Selected NTAEs	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
	'000 US$
Apples	11 297	5 667	30 153	30 757	18 139
Avocados	160	156	423	215	345
Cantaloupes	20 913	28 324	28 733	25 008	39 297
Carrots	31	6	68	207	517
Cucumbers	3	9	143	85	51
Eggplants	27	115	609	498	196
Fruit, prepared	39 827	38 228	32 196	26 065	27 440
Grapes	4 780	5 823	8 614	14 618	21 563
Mangoes	20 182	32 517	32 011	35 764	50 814
Papayas	7 277	9 454	13 577	17 696	18 503
Pepper	59 376	77 670	87 448	69 275	59 677
Pimento (Allspice)	19	1 100	2 105	8 992	12 567
Pineapples	3 938	3 854	4 290	4 099	3 408
Sweet Corn Prep. or Pres	2 577	2 650	2266	2 856	4 366
Total of selected NTAEs	170 407	205 573	242 636	236 135	256 883
Soybean cake	2 680 885	1 749 876	1 503 572	1 652 620	2 065 192
Cocoa beans	7 865	9 273	4 758	2 004	3 785
Cocoa butter	85 054	99 305	67 688	66 101	47 820
Cocoa paste	17 849	24 809	17 038	12 885	15 333
Cocoa powder and Cake	16 127	18 842	17 929	20 143	27 234
Coffee, green	2 745 289	2 330 874	2 230 844	1 559 614	1 207 735
Soya beans	24524 27	21754 28	15932 94	2 187 879	2 725 508
Raw sugar	1 045 395	1 094 687	1 162 307	761 792	14008 27
Refined sugar	725 929	846 194	748 419	437 633	878 232
Tobacco	1 091 394	939 766	892 686	812 921	921 135
Total of selected TAEs	10 868 214	9 289 054	8 238 535	7 513 592	9 292 801

Source: FAOSTAT

^[12] The situation in Brazil is complicated by the fact that it is an important "price maker" in both sugar and soya beans and by the devaluation of its currency.