Drought: Conab buys 55 tons of corn.
The last auction by the National Supply Company (Conab) aimed at acquiring corn to save the herds in the Northeast, held this Monday (6), resulted in the purchase of 55 thousand tons of the grain; the cargo will arrive in the states of Pernambuco and Ceará by sea, a method found by the government to avoid the logistical bottlenecks of the road network and speed up delivery to the ports in the Region; the Northeast is facing the worst drought in the last 50 years and, in Pernambuco alone, the cattle herd has been reduced by half.
PE247 - The last auction by the National Supply Company (Conab) to acquire corn destined for animal feed in the Northeastern states, which are suffering from the worst drought in the last 50 years, was held this Monday (6). The auction resulted in the purchase of 55 thousand tons, but the Federal Government expected this volume to reach 103 thousand tons of the grain. The cargo will arrive in the states of Pernambuco and Ceará by sea, a method found by the government to avoid the logistical bottlenecks of the road network and speed up delivery to the ports in the Region.
Of the 55 tons, 25 will be destined for farmers in Pernambuco, and the remainder will go to Ceará. Another 28 tons will be acquired and distributed among producers in Rio Grande do Norte and Paraíba. The critical situation caused by the drought led the Special Secretariat of Ports to determine last week that port terminals throughout the country should prioritize the loading and unloading of grain destined to help farmers in the Northeast.
Despite the urgency, corn acquisition is below expectations. The first auction held for this purpose, on April 17th, failed due to a complete lack of suppliers. The first purchase, of only 20 tons, took place on April 26th. The shipment was destined for the state of Bahia.
Under the relief program set up by the Federal Government, the corn will be delivered to state governments, which will be responsible for distributing the grain to producers. Only municipalities that have their state of emergency officially recognized can access the corn, which is being sold at a lower price than the market price. While Conab sells a 60-kilo sack to small producers for R$ 18,12 and to large producers for R$ 21, the same sack of grain is traded for up to R$ 50 in retail stores in the region.