The establishment of a minimum price list for road freight will result in food inflation, said Luis Barbieri, advisor of the National Association of Exporters of Cereals (Anec), during the DATAGRO Agrifinance Brazil, on Tuesday (07). in São Paulo (SP). “The charting poses risks for the next harvest, as regards the delivery of inputs and the formation of prices.”
According to the leader, the freight market in Brazil – before the tabulation – worked naturally, based on supply and demand. “In the last five years, the value of freight rose 37.9% following the IGPM inflation index – which increased 36.3%.”
However, according to Barbieri, with the tabulation, agribusiness companies, such as tradings, are studying to build or expand their own fleets of trucks. “This is a misplaced capital allocation move, which will make everything more expensive.”
In addition, in the evaluation of the leader, Brazil needs to diversify the export agenda to China, nowadays heavily based on shipments of soybeans. “If we do not do this, then China will be able to buy all of our production, leaving our market to be out of stock for oilseed processing, impacting, for example, the animal feed industry and consequently meat production.”
Finally, Barbieri pointed out that the US-China trade war is harmful to Brazil. “This forces us further to have a strategic plan for exports.”
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.