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.

FAS/Cairo (Post) forecasts Egypt’s soybean imports in marketing year (MY) 2025/26 (October – September) to increase by 5.0 percent from the previous marketing driven by a flexible exchange rate, the availability of forex and a more positive outlook for the livestock sectors.

While small local grocers dominate the Egyptian retail market, representing more than 50 percent of sales by value, convenience and price will continue to drive the majority of Egyptian consumer buying decisions, presenting growth opportunities across all retail channels.

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.

Post forecasts Egypt’s MY 2025/26 cotton production at 320,000 bales, down 25 percent from the previous season due to a significant decrease in area harvested.

Egypt’s wheat imports for marketing year 2025/26 are estimated at 13.0 million metric tons, unchanged from Post’s estimate in the previous marketing year which was revised upward by 4 percent due to the availability of forex contributing to an increase in imports.

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.

On March 12, 2025, the Government of Egypt (GoE) filed a ninth addendum to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) – G/TBT/N/EGY/313/Add.9 – informing interested parties that it was excluding imports of milk and dairy products from the scope of its Halal certification requirements.