News
Unlike previous years, when the transplanting stage of the tomato season started around the end of February, it began several weeks later this year, in March, in order to avoid the very hot and humid weather conditions of the first few months of 2018. The last fields of tomatoes were transplanted between June and July, as usual. Harvest operations started at the end of June and, by end of July, local operators estimated that 85% of the expected volumes would be harvested and processed by the end of August.
According to local sources, agricultural yields have been satisfactory, like in 2017, and average productivity should amount to levels that are similar to those of last year in the state of Goiás and in the North of the Minas Gerais region, which have not recorded excessive rainfall this year. If current observations are confirmed, and despite a drop in the surfaces planted with tomatoes for processing in 2018, the result of the 2018/2019 season should lead to a good stock situation. Local operators estimate that these circumstances should help to slow the increase of planted surfaces and the import rate of tomato paste next year.
According to the Secex (Foreign Trade Secretariat), Brazilian imports of paste during the first semester 2018 (13 600 mT) dropped by 20% compared to those of last year (16 900 mT). In addition to the considerable size of currently available stocks, this decrease has been motivated by the hike in the dollar in recent months.
Source: noticiasagricolas.com.br
