Heated international demand, the favorable exchange rate for foreign sales, attractive prices for domestic starch and low internal liquidity resulted in an increase of almost 64% in exports of this product between February and March. However, the quarterly performance is still below last year's.

In March, according to Secex data, Brazil exported 3.99 thousand tons of cassava starch, an increase of 63.8% compared to the previous month, but a decrease of 14.6% compared to the same period in 2022. In the first quarter of this year, 8.84 thousand tons were shipped, 43% less than that registered between January and March 2022.

Mato Grosso do Sul and Paraná sold 65% and 21% of the total shipped in March, respectively, followed by São Paulo (7% of the total), Santa Catarina (4%) and Alagoas (3%). Together, other states had a share of less than 0.3% of exports.

The average price of starch exported by Brazil was US$ 1,042.77 per ton (FOB Brazilian customs) in March, with a monthly decrease of 4%, but an expressive increase of 46.3% in the year.