(Reuters) – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday his government planned to develop a project aimed at increasing the country’s production of fertilizer and making it less reliant on imports.
Speaking during his weekly live broadcast on social media, Bolsonaro did not provide many details on the project but said it would be presented next month and improve the use of raw materials available in Brazil.
Earlier on Thursday, Bolsonaro told an event in Brasilia that he expected a shortage of fertilizers next year.
“I am warning you a year in advance, due to the energy crisis, China began producing less fertilizer and the price has already gone up. It will go up more and there will be a shortage,” Bolsonaro said.
“For every five plates of food in the world, one comes from Brazil. We will have problems with supply (of fertilizers) next year,” he added.
Brazil imported $8.71 billion of fertilizers in 2020, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade accounting. Of that, $664.41 million came from China.
(Reporting by Maria Carolina Marcello and Ricardo Brito; Additional reporting by Anthony Boadle; Writing by Stephen Eisenhammer; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
