RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL — Available grain storage capacity in Brazil reached 192.2 million tonnes in the second half of 2022 as it continues to grow with its record-breaking crops, according to a report from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the country’s official data agency.

The Survey of Stocks showed total grain storage grew 1.8% compared to the first half of 2022 as the total number of grain establishments rose 0.7%. Storage silos account for 51.6% of capacity at 99.2 million tonnes, growing 3.2% over the first half of 2022. 

Bulk and bulk warehouses followed with 70.3 million tonnes of available storable capacity, 0.4% higher than the first half of the year and 36.6% of national storage. Conventional, structural and inflatable warehouses, which are 11.8% of the country’s total storage, added up to 22.6 million tonnes, an increase of 0.1%.

The state of Rio Grande do Sul has the largest number of storage locations (2,178), and Mato Grosso the highest capacity at 47.5 million tonnes. The stock of farm products amounted to 39.4 million tonnes, an increase of 7.4% from the second half of 2021.

Of the five main farm products in storage units, stocks of corn made up the biggest volume (18.1 million tonnes), followed by soybeans (8.1 million), wheat (7.4 million), rice and coffee (2.2 million) and coffee (900,000). These products account for 94% of the total amount monitored by this survey, with the remaining 6% consisting of cotton, black beans, colored beans and other grains and seeds.

The US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) has projected Brazil’s corn and wheat crops to again exceed expectations in marketing year 2023-24 with corn production reaching 133 million tonnes and wheat 11 million tonnes. Brazil also is projected to harvest a record 159 million tonnes of soybeans.