Brazil is boosting its food security through investments across its supply chain, including a project by Brazil Potash to open a $2.5 billion mining facility, strategically located to provide Brazilian farmers a steady stream of domestically produced fertiliser.
Once operational in 2030, the Autazes Project will produce 2.4 million tons of Muriate of Potash annually for primary use in domestic agricultural production, Matt Simpson, CEO of Brazil Potash, told AgTechNavigator. The widely used potassium (K) fertiliser, specifically potassium chloride, comes from underground salt deposits formed by failed oceans, he explained.
Currently, Belarus, Canada, and Russia produce roughly 80% of the world’s potash, and recent geopolitical events — like the Ukraine-Russia war — are creating supply chain challenges, leading to higher fertiliser prices, Simpson noted.
“You are seeing massive volatility in pricing, where within the last four years, potash has come from a low of $280 to a high of $1,200, and that volatility is extremely problematic for farmers,” he elaborated.
Brazil faces two issues when it comes to fertiliser, Simpson pointed out.
One, Brazil imports nearly 95% of its nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) fertilisers, despite being able to produce “domestically in much greater amounts than they do today,” Simpson said. Second, Brazilian soil has a high clay content, and double and triple cropping requires soil to be rejuvenated more frequently, he added.
“The soil is constantly under stress. It is constantly having the nutrients absorbed to be able to grow the food, coupled with not holding on to nutrients very well to begin with, especially when it rains, it washes nutrients out of the clay,” he said.
Bolstering Brazilian food security with potash mining
Located in the Amazonas state, the site of the Autazes Project is advantageous due to its proximity to major agricultural regions, like the state of Mato Grosso.
The site also benefits from the Madeira River, making it possible to ship fertiliser to Brazilian farmers in about three days, compared to the roughly 100 days that it takes for Canadian or Russian potash, Simpson noted.
Brazil Potash has partnered with major commodity company Amaggi Group to transport potash, Simpson explained. Amaggi trucks their products to river barge ports in Portobello and Miritituba, where the river barges are loaded onto Panamax vessels for export, he added.
“Instead of those barges coming all the way back empty and then the trucks going back empty, we are going to load them with potash,” he elaborated.
Brazil Potash has been working with the country’s government, which deemed the Autazes Project “to be nationally important,” Simpson said.
“This is a project I think is going to be really important for global food security because it does provide a fourth major producer that can be a lot more reliable than the Russians and the Belarusians. And it has scale, which is really important,” Simpson elaborated.
