Funny place for a traffic jam. In the middle of the Amazon, on the BR-163 road that crosses the Brazilian state of Para, the landscape alternates between jungle and pastures. But on the asphalt, all year long, stretches an uninterrupted line of trucks. In service stations, these monsters of 25 meters for more than 30 tons wait by the hundreds in the moist heat. When the drivers are not driving, they rest on folding chairs, soda in hand, in the shade of their heavy weight. Most traveled more than 1,000 kilometers in 48 hours, rolling in from fields in the neighboring state of Mato Grosso to the south. Their objective is the port of Miritituba, known as “Miri”, on the rio Tapajos. Several days of waiting are often necessary to unload the cargo.
This comes down to a single product: soya. Brazil has become, in a few years, the leading producer in the world with 156 million tonnes for harvest 2022-2023 (five times European oilseed production!), over an area of 44 million hectares (the equivalent of Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands combined). Mato Grosso alone accounts for a third of national production.
A small, round, nondescript grain, soya is now the “green gold” of Brazil. This country is also the leading international seller and meets half of global demand, with 95 million tonnes exported per year. The entire sector (grain, but also oil and animal rations) brought Brazil $61 billion in 2022, or nearly a fifth of its export revenues. A jackpot that justifies the Amazonian traffic jams…
Endless versatility
If Brazil is an agricultural giant, nothing predestined it to become the leader in soya. The plant – a legume (Fabaceae) 1.50 meters high – appeared very far from Rio or Sao Paulo, domesticated between 6,000 and 3,500 years BC on the plains of China. The oilseed does not arrive in Europe until the 18the century, where it quickly acquired commercial potential. The seeds of this “magic bean” have an exceptional protein (40%) and lipid (18%) content. Oil, margarine, fertilizers, cosmetics, fuels, animal fibers and meals (cakes)… Its versatility, that is to say the range of its uses, is infinite.
In the 20the century, the United States made this legume a cash crop. After the Second World War, the demand for protein exploded and, with it, that of the meals that feed cows, pigs, poultry and fish in the West. Insightful, Washington fully subsidizes the sector and floods the European market. In 1965, it held 75% of the world soybean market. But this success only lasted for a short time: in 1973, the harvests were catastrophic. To avoid the shortage, President Richard Nixon (1969-1974) decreed an embargo on exports. That’s when Brazil comes into the picture…
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