According to today's USDA Grain Transportation Report, according to USDA’s July World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates, Brazil will likely export more corn than the United States, both in the current marketing year (MY) and upcoming MY 2023/24.
However, a new white paper from the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) suggests this trend may not necessarily continue.
The white paper identifies U.S. superior infrastructure as being one reason for optimism about future U.S. corn exports. Currently, 60 percent of grain is transported by truck in Brazil, which is slightly lower than the analogous U.S. share.
However, Brazil has only 25% of the roadway miles found in the United States (despite Brazil’s being 87 percent the size of the United States).
Additionally, only 12 percent of Brazil’s roads are paved, compared to nearly 70% of U.S. roads. Another challenge for Brazil is that its storage capacity has not kept pace with rising grain production—leading to an estimated 4-billion-bushel shortfall of capacity this year.
For more on Brazil’s agricultural transportation, see USDA’s Brazil Soybean Transportationreport.