Brazilian agriculture exports show rising food inflation – and suggest a biodiesel effect

As an agricultural powerhouse, Brazil’s export figures are a reliable tool for anticipating global food inflation. Preliminary weekly data compiled by CEIC tracks Brazil’s export trends – anticipating global food inflation data released only monthly by the United Nations’ FAO.

In June, our index spiked. More expensive meat has been a factor, but so was the vegetable oil category, which in Brazil primarily means soybean oil. And prices are shooting up even after the country harvested a record soybean crop. Like the palm-oil phenomenon in Malaysia and Indonesia, this could be linked to biodiesel – a fuel growing in popularity in the wake of the Middle East crisis.

(Brazilian lawmakers have been pushing for more biodiesel use to increase the nation’s energy security, while foreign companies are setting up green jet fuel plants in Brazil to take advantage of abundant feedstocks.)

CEIC users can access more charts and the full data story here: