Macadamia from Brazil: Increased Production leads to Increased Export

The macadamia season in Brazil starts in January and ends in September. Sao Paolo is the main macadamia producing region in the country. In 2019, Brazil is expected to produce between 8K and 9K tons of macadamia, which is around 9% increase from last year. The production increase is mainly driven by three factors: favorable weather conditions, increased harvest area, and support from the Brazilian government.

Australia and South Africa are the largest producers of the nut with each country accounting for around 28% of the global production. Kenya and the US are also major producers with each country producing 14% and 9% of global production, respectively. Compared to these countries, Brazil is a minor producer representing 3% of global production. Despite this, the country is one of the biggest consumers of the nut. Also, Brazil’s export has been increasing: the country exported 4.4 million USD worth of macadamia nuts in 2018, an increase of 79% compared to 2017. The main markets for Brazilian macadamia nuts are Hong Kong, China, Europe, and the US.

According to Duppre Vettor, a Brazilian macadamia exporter, the weather conditions have been favorable this season with healthy amounts of rainfall during the summer months. This has led to an increase in production. Furthermore, more farmers are interested in producing the nut. Macadamia offers higher margins for farmers and exporters compared to other nut varieties such as cashew and pecan nuts. However, it has taken a while for macadamia nuts to become popular amongst Brazilian farmers as macadamia trees take longer to grow: it takes around 4 to 5 years to begin producing the nut and around 10 to 15 years to receive a return on investment. Due to the longevity of this plant, many farmers opted to plant crops such as soybeans, despite the higher profitability of macadamia nuts.

The Brazilian government supports the macadamia export industry by exempting the nut from export taxes, which makes the nut more profitable to export. The government also invests in research on improving the quality of Brazilian macadamias and on value addition of the nuts.

Brazilian macadamias are competitively priced. The export price of Duppre Vettor is between 4.00 USD and 5.50 USD per kg, depending on quality. This makes Brazilian macadamia nuts cheaper than Australian nuts, and on par with African nuts. Furthermore, the recent devaluation of the Brazilian Real is making the company’s nuts cheaper for importers.