Brazil’s September Farm Exports Rise to $7 Billion as Soy and Coffee Offset Corn Decline

Brazil exported $7.00 billion of agricultural goods in September 2026, 4.8% more than a year earlier, as stronger soybean and coffee sales outweighed a sharp decline in corn export value.

The figures, released by Brazil’s Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services on October 6, show agriculture still supplied one dollar in every five earned from the country’s exports during the month. Farm goods accounted for 20.3% of total merchandise exports.

Brazil’s overall exports reached $34.42 billion, up 12.9% from September 2025. Imports fell 2.4% to $26.68 billion, lifting the monthly trade surplus to $7.74 billion—more than double the result recorded a year earlier.

Soybeans supplied half of farm export revenue

Soybeans remained the largest agricultural export by a wide margin. Shipments were worth $3.47 billion, an increase of 11.9% year on year. That single product generated almost half of Brazil’s agricultural export revenue in September and just over 10% of all merchandise export earnings.

Unroasted coffee exports rose 8.7% to $1.29 billion. Raw cotton increased 14.4% to $332 million, while live-animal exports rose 25.5% to $196 million.

Corn moved in the opposite direction. Export value fell 17.0% to $1.25 billion from $1.50 billion a year earlier. The decline reduced corn’s share of Brazil’s total exports to 3.6%, compared with 4.9% in September 2025.

The product mix matters because the headline agricultural increase was not broad-based. Soybeans added about $369 million and coffee about $103 million in year-on-year export value, while corn lost roughly $256 million. Together, those three changes explain much of the net gain recorded by the farm sector.

A stronger trade balance was not only an agricultural story

Extractive-industry exports rose 39.8% to $9.44 billion, while manufactured exports increased 5.3% to $17.67 billion. Agriculture therefore contributed to the stronger trade result, but mining and energy products provided the fastest sector growth.

Trade with the European Union was especially strong. Brazilian exports to the bloc rose 60.1% to $6.95 billion, while imports from the EU fell 8.7% to $4.06 billion. That produced a $2.89 billion monthly surplus with the bloc.

For agricultural exporters, the EU increase is commercially important even though it cannot be read as an agriculture-only number. Brazil’s sales to Europe also include oil, ores and manufactured goods. The total nevertheless signals a large shift in destination demand that grain, oilseed, coffee and food traders will want to test against their own shipment data.

What the numbers do—and do not—show

These are trade values measured in U.S. dollars, not physical shipment volumes. A rise can reflect higher tonnage, higher prices, a different product mix or a combination of all three. The ministry’s summary therefore shows where export earnings changed, but it does not by itself establish that farmers produced or shipped proportionally more.

The comparison is also against September 2025, so timing effects can matter. Vessel departures, customs clearance and the pace of seasonal marketing can move cargo between adjacent months. One month should not be treated as a complete trend.

Even with those limits, the data point to a resilient agricultural export base. Soybeans and coffee more than covered weaker corn earnings, while cotton and live animals added smaller gains. That diversification helped Brazil capture stronger global demand without relying on a single farm commodity.

Year-to-date exports pass $284 billion

From January through September, Brazil exported $284.65 billion of goods, up 10.4% from the same period of 2025. Imports rose 5.0% to $222.26 billion, leaving a cumulative trade surplus of $62.40 billion—34.8% higher than a year earlier.

The next question is whether September’s mix carries into the final quarter. Soybean availability normally tightens after the main export season, corn shipments remain exposed to price and harvest timing, and coffee earnings can be influenced by both crop supply and international prices. For traders and processors, the monthly total is less useful than the divergence inside it: soy and coffee strengthened, while corn did not.