Fertilizer imports in Brazil rise to a five-year high in Jan-April amid its weakest season

Brazil imported 11.54 million mt of fertilizers between January and April 2025, up 13% year over year and the highest recorded for this period in five years, driven by purchases intended for winter crops and anticipating the next harvest, according to Brazil's official Logistics Bulletin.

According to historical data, the first four months of the year typically have the lowest import volume, which tends to gain momentum from May onward, peaking particularly in the second half of the year.

The mark reached in January-April is the highest since 2021, when the figures started in the official bulletin elaborated by Brazil's national agricultural agency Conab published on May 28. In January-April 2024, the total was 10.18 million mt.

In 2024, fertilizer imports totaled 44.3 million mt of nutrients unloaded at Brazilian ports, according to the Logistics Bulletin.

The increase occurs while the Brazilian government develops a National Fertilizers Plan to reduce its reliance on fertilizer imports from 85% of the total currently consumed to 50% by 2050. In June, Petrobras is set to reopen a fertilizers plant in the southern state of Paraná, and Mosaic expects to inaugurate a new blending site in the North of the country.

Nitrogen and phosphates are among the most relevant fertilizers imported to the South American market. However, no details about the types of fertilizers were included in the official imports bulletin.

February was the month with the strongest growth, as imports totaled 2.33 million mt, up 21% from 1.92 million mt in the same month of 2024. April was the second, growing by 20%, with 3.63 million mt from 3.02 million mt in the same month the previous year, official data showed.

Among the most important ports for imports, Paranaguá, located in Paraná, continued to be the first with 3.03 million mt received in January-April 2025, increasing 21.68% against the same period in 2024.

Northern ports, which are on the rise, followed with 2.52 million mt during the period, up 13.51%. However, Santos, a strategic port in the southeast of Brazil, showed a 12.57% decrease to 1.60 million mt during the same four months of the year.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, last assessed granular urea CFR Brazil at $380/mt on May 29, and Monoammonium Phosphate Bulk CFR Brazil at $726/mt.