Grain freight rates from the US Gulf and South America to China rise, Brazil's corn exports surge 104% year-on-year in March

1. Official statistics: Brazil's corn exports surged 104% year-on-year in March, marking the first increase in 10 months,

According to statistics released by the Brazilian Foreign Trade Secretariat (Secex), Brazil's corn exports in March were significantly higher than the same period last year, and for the first time in 10 months, they were ahead of last year's levels.

From March 1st to 31st, Brazil's corn export volume was 871298 tons, and for the entire month of March 2024, it was 427308 tons; In March, the daily average export was 45858 tons, a year-on-year increase of 103.9%; The export value of corn reached 210 million US dollars in March, and 100 million US dollars in March 2024; The average export price of corn in March was 240.6 US dollars per ton, a year-on-year increase of 1.9%.

2 AgRural： As of April 3rd, the progress of Brazil's first season corn harvest is 88%

On Monday, consulting firm AgRural reported that as of April 3, the progress of the first season corn harvest in central and southern Brazil for 2024/25 was 88%, compared to 82% a week ago and 85% in the same period last year.

3. So far this year, Ukraine has exported 17.24 million tons of corn

The Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture stated that as of April 7th, Ukraine's grain exports for the fiscal year 2024/25 (starting from July) amounted to 33.2 million tons, a decrease of 3.9 million tons or 10.5% year-on-year. So far this year, 17.24 million tons of corn have been exported, lower than the same period last year's 13.03 million tons.

4. The Russian Ministry of Agriculture will raise corn export tariffs by 3% for the next week

The Russian Ministry of Agriculture has issued a notice to increase the corn export tariff (in rubles) by 3% for the next week. From April 9th to 15th, 2025, the benchmark price for Russian corn will be $220.9 per ton, with an export tariff of 1251.7 rubles per ton; The benchmark price for the previous week was 220.9 US dollars, with an export tariff of 1216.8 rubles per ton.

5. As of the week of April 3rd, grain freight rates from the US Gulf and South America to China have increased

According to data released by the Grain Council of the United States, the freight cost for a 66000 ton cargo ship from the US Gulf to ports in China (North or South China, the same below) is $47 per ton, an increase of $0.5 from a week ago. The freight cost for a 66000 ton cargo ship from the West Coast to Chinese ports is $28 per ton, an increase of $0.5 from a week ago.

The freight cost for 54000 to 59000 ton cargo ships from Santos Port in Brazil to China is $37.5 per ton, unchanged from last week; The shipping cost from the northern coast of Brazil to China is $43 per ton, an increase of $1.

The shipping cost for a 56000 to 60000 ton deepwater cargo ship from Rosario Port in Argentina to China is $40 per ton, an increase of $0.5.

6. Last week, the inspection volume of US corn exports was 1.58 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 8%

The US Department of Agriculture's Export Inspection Weekly report shows that the inspection volume of US corn exports decreased by 4% last week compared to a week ago, but increased by 8% year-on-year.

As of the week of April 3, 2025, the inspection volume of US corn exports was 1582773 tons, compared to 1646852 tons last week and 1464970 tons in the same period last year. The United States did not ship corn to China this week, and it did not ship corn to China last week either.

So far in 2024/25, the inspection volume of US corn exports has been 35582389 tons, a year-on-year increase of 30.0%, an increase of 31.0% last week, and an increase of 32.0% two weeks ago. The inspection volume of US corn exports in 2024/25 reached 57.2% of the US Department of Agriculture's forecast target, up from 54.6% last week.