Browse Data and Analysis

Post expects Brazil to remain the world's largest producer of sugarcane and sugar in marketing year (MY) 2025/26. Total sugarcane production is forecast at 671 million metric tons (MMT), and total sugar production is forecast at 44.7 MMT, raw value.

The Brazilian Food Processors' Association reported 2024 Brazilian food processing sector revenues at US$233 billion, a growth of 9.9 percent compared to the previous year.

Brazil’s corn planted area and production for MY 2025/26 are expected to increase. Low stocks and strong demand led corn prices to high levels in the domestic market, growing producers’ sowing outlooks.

For MY 2025/26, Post forecasts cotton area to grow 2.9 percent compared to the current season, to 2.13 million hectares. Post also forecasts cotton production at a record 17.8 million bales (3.87 million metric tons (MMT)).

This report highlights the food processing industry, its drivers, key players, and market landscape in the Caribbean Basin. The region relies heavily on imports, and the United States is the largest supplier of food ingredients.

In 2024, the Dutch food processing industry continued to face challenges due to geopolitical tensions, market uncertainty, and rising raw material costs, all of which are causing price fluctuations.

Brazil is the second-largest chicken meat producer in the world after the United States and the largest chicken meat exporter in the world.

Post forecasts that Brazilian producers will expand soybean planted area to 48.2 million hectares (ha) in the 2025/26 season, up from an estimated 47.3 million ha in 2024/25.

Between 2018 and 2024, U.S. exports of confectionery products have skyrocketed from $4 million to $28 million and exports of chocolate and cocoa product grown from $16 million to a record high $31 million.

Brazil is the second largest beef producing country and the largest beef exporting country in the world. Post expects decreased slaughter in 2025, due to the forecast start of the reversion of the cattle cycle.

This provides an update to the report Citrus Annual_Brasilia_Brazil_BR2024-0043. The report has been edited from its original version to revise estimates and update the Post forecasts for production, consumption and exports.

This report describes the current trends and developments of the industrial hemp sector in the Netherlands. Key highlight include the Netherlands’ National Approach Biobased Building, a strategy for construction through which it aims to have 30 percent of all newly built houses and utility buildings constructed with at least 30 percent bio-based construction materials by 2030.