The textile industrial production index fell 23.9% year on year in January, the lowest level in the available series dating back to 2016, according to a March report by the Argentine Textile Industries Federation (FITA). FITA said the decline was driven by drops of more than 30% in segments such as “fabrics and finishing” and “cotton yarns,” contrasting with a milder 3.2% decline in overall manufacturing.

The downturn has been building. The Pro Tejer Foundation’s economic bulletin said textile production was down 27.8% compared with two years earlier. Capacity use underscores the contraction: in January 2026, the sector operated at just 24% of its productive potential, far below the economy-wide industrial average of 53.6%, according to the same sources.

Industry groups said the slump is also showing up in employment. Textiles, apparel, leather and footwear shed 12,000 formal jobs over the past year, totaling 100,000 positions as of December 2025, they said. Since late 2023, the accumulated losses exceed 20,000 jobs, and Pro Tejer said the sector posted the largest percentage employment decline across Argentina’s private economy.

The deterioration at home has unfolded alongside fast growth in online retail. Argentina’s e-commerce market expanded 55% in 2025, outpacing inflation of 31.5%, industry data cited in the reports showed. But the growth has been increasingly driven by purchases from abroad, a trend that now includes 47% of online shoppers, according to the latest annual e-commerce study by the Argentine Chamber of E-Commerce (CACE) and Kantar.

In that survey, Temu was the most used platform among consumers who buy from overseas, at 41%, followed by Shein at 31%, ahead of traditional players such as Amazon, the study showed.

Local brands have felt the shift in demand, industry sources said. E-commerce platform Tiendanube reported nominal revenue for non-sports apparel fell 14%, which it linked in large part to the rise of Chinese platforms. The Observatorio Pyme Foundation said 88% of small and mid-sized firms in the segment cited falling sales as their main problem, while 68.4% said they faced an “import threat,” the highest reading across industrial sectors.

Imports: finished goods up, production inputs down

Foreign trade data points to a structural split. FITA said imports of final products, particularly clothing, rose 54% in volume and 27% in value in February. Over the first two months of the year, imports of finished apparel jumped 82% in tonnes and 53% in dollars, it said.

Datamar container movement data reveals a 39% surge in inbound TEU volumes within Argentina’s fabric garments during January and February of 2026. The following provides a detailed breakdown of these import trends:

Fabric Garments Imports | Argentina | Jan 2023 – Feb 2026 | TEUs

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

At the same time, imports of key inputs needed for local production, such as yarns, raw materials and fabrics, fell more than 35% in volume and more than 50% in value, FITA said, arguing the pattern suggests factories are buying less because they are producing less, while domestic demand is increasingly met by foreign goods.

FITA also warned of growing under-invoicing in textile imports, saying more than 70% of incoming products were declared at values well below historical references and, in many cases, below the cost of the main raw material. FITA cited cases such as cotton T-shirts imported for less than $0.01, towels below $0.30 per kilogram and jeans below $1, calling the practice a source of market distortions and unfair competition for local producers.

Pro Tejer said that in the first 10 months of last year, total textile and apparel imports reached 332,696 tonnes, up 89% year on year. Within that, made-up goods rose 217% and garments 166%, setting record highs in import volume, it said. Observatorio Pyme added that 37% of industrial SMEs reduced their share of the domestic market due to foreign competition, the highest since 2007, and said China was identified as the main source of the import threat by 73.3% of firms.

Prices have not kept pace with the strain on producers, the groups said. The “clothing, leather and footwear” category posted no monthly change in February 2026, but Pro Tejer said the slowdown reflected negative profitability, with many sales taking place below cost amid weak consumption and demand shifting toward imports.

Source: Forbes Argentina

Exports rose from US$ 457 million in the same period of 2025, extending a strong growth trend following record results in both 2024 and 2025.

According to journalist Lauro Jardim, from O Globo, the performance highlights Brazil’s expanding footprint in the international defense market.

Germany, Bulgaria, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and Portugal were among the main destinations for Brazilian defense products. The sector’s global reach is significant, with exports currently reaching 148 countries across all continents.

The industry includes around 93 exporting companies operating across different segments of the production chain.

Source: Brasil 247

The figures do not yet reflect the impact of the war involving the United States and Israel against Iran, which began in late February and has been affecting the global fertilizer market. Countries in the Middle East are among the world’s leading suppliers of fertilizers and their inputs.

According to ANDA, total fertilizer deliveries to the Brazilian market reached 3.87 million tonnes in January 2026, a 5.3% increase from the same month a year earlier, when 3.67 million tonnes were sold. The state of Mato Grosso was the country’s largest market, accounting for 29.7% of total deliveries, or 1.14 million tonnes.

The provided chart offers a comparative analysis of Brazil’s monthly fertilizer inbound flow since January 2023. These insights are powered by Datamar’s DataLiner market intelligence:

Fertilizer Imports | Jan 2023 – Jan 2026 | WTMT

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Most imported fertilizers enter Brazil through the Port of Paranaguá in Paraná. The port handled 786,000 tonnes in January, representing 24.8% of the total. Brazil imports nearly all the fertilizers used in its agriculture.

Source: ANBA

To complete the transaction and carry out the necessary upgrades, the company will invest R$2 billion in dredging works, construction of a berth, storage facilities, and road-rail access. Environmental licenses are still pending. The deal also depends on approval from the Minister of Ports and Airports, expected within 90 days.

According to Alberto Pagano, Arauco’s logistics director, the company had been evaluating port alternatives since 2022 and identified the terminal as the most viable option. The site covers approximately 200,000 square meters and will have the capacity to handle 3.55 million tonnes of pulp per year, matching the mill’s production. Construction is expected to begin in the second half of this year and take between 14 and 18 months.

The Arauco investment in the Port of Santos is part of a broader logistics package that includes R$2.4 billion for a 45-kilometer railway connecting the facility to Rumo’s Malha Norte network, as well as 9 kilometers of internal tracks. The operation will involve 26 locomotives, 721 railcars, and the capacity to transport up to 9,600 tonnes per train.

Railway construction began in late 2025 and is scheduled for completion in the second half of 2027, alongside the mill’s startup. The company is also considering using rail to transport wood from forests located about 100 km away and is evaluating the Tietê-Paraná waterway.

With an investment of US$4.6 billion, the Sucuriú Project will have an annual capacity of 3.5 million tonnes of bleached eucalyptus pulp, making it the largest facility of its kind in the world. Construction is currently 42% complete, with completion expected in 2027.

Arauco currently produces 5.2 million tonnes per year across operations in Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. The Brazilian unit will match the company’s total production in Chile.

The project is part of a wave of new investments in the pulp sector in Latin America, including initiatives by CMPC, Bracell, Eldorado, and Paracel.

Source: Valor Econômico

Datamar market intelligence indicates that tobacco shipments reached 5,988 TEUs during the opening two months of the year. The following breakdown tracks the monthly outbound flows recorded at Brazilian maritime ports:

Tobacco Exports | Jan 2023 – Feb 2026 | TEUs

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

A comparison with 2025 highlights the magnitude of the decline. In the first two months of last year, exports reached US$ 590.4 million, the highest value in the entire historical series that began in 1997. The 2026 result, although still high in historical terms, represents a significant correction after a period of exceptional performance.

Analysis of the historical series shows that the sector has evolved consistently over the past decades, though it has been marked by fluctuations. In the late 1990s, shipments in the first two months ranged between approximately US$ 60 million and US$ 200 million. Throughout the 2000s, there was gradual growth, with values generally ranging from US$ 100 million to US$ 250 million, reflecting the expansion of Brazil’s presence in international markets.

From the 2010s onward, the sector began operating at a higher level, although with greater volatility. There were years of decline, such as 2017, when exports totaled US$ 175.4 million, interspersed with periods of recovery and growth. This behavior reinforces the cyclical nature of tobacco foreign trade.

The most consistent jump occurred from 2020 onward, when exports more frequently exceeded the US$ 300 million mark in the first two months. Between 2022 and 2025, this new level became consolidated, culminating in the record set in 2025. In this context, the 2026 result indicates an important short-term inflection, although it still keeps the sector at a historically high level.

VALUATION

Another relevant aspect of the series is the different behavior between value and volume. Over time, growth in value has been more pronounced than in volume, suggesting the influence of international prices and higher value-added exports. In 2026, the sharper drop in value than in volume reinforces this pattern.

Despite the decline at the beginning of the year, the sector’s history indicates that downturns following periods of growth are not uncommon. Performance over the coming months will be decisive in determining whether the current decline is merely a temporary adjustment after the 2025 peak or the beginning of a new cycle of stabilization in Brazilian tobacco exports.

Source: Olá Jornal

Fertilizers underscore the close link between energy and food prices, as they are critical to sustaining harvests worldwide.

The Middle East is a vital supplier, rich in mineral reserves and in the natural gas needed to produce nutrients for staple crops such as corn, wheat and rice.

With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed, shipments have been disrupted as Iran, the United States and Israel continue attacks on energy infrastructure.

Urea prices, in turn, have risen, and phosphate supplies are also at risk. Much of the world’s supply is tied to the Persian Gulf, and concern has spread across the main agricultural economies.

Major exporters China and Russia are restricting some sales of agricultural nutrients, while the United States is easing transport restrictions to facilitate domestic flows.

India, the largest buyer of urea, has been struggling to secure supply. Greece and France have expanded financial support for farmers and, in Africa, Ghana has implemented a free fertilizer program.

“Farmers should not bear the burden of any crisis,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday (March 24) in parliament, where he addressed the conflict in the Middle East and announced efforts to strengthen fertilizer reserves. “The government stands with the farmers.”

Higher fertilizer prices could drive up food costs just as agricultural inflation had begun to ease after years of shocks, from the pandemic to the war in Ukraine and extreme weather.

Though usually excluded from core inflation measures, they have challenged central banks. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey warned of fresh price pressures as policymakers held interest rates steady this month.

At the same time, countries are moving to protect farmers already hit by low crop prices, high input costs and tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Competition for supplies is intensifying.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration suspended sanctions on Venezuelan fertilizers to “ease the impact on American farmers,” according to White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly.

Colombia’s state-run Ecopetrol is seeking access to that same supply and is considering a bid for Monómeros, a major plant on the Caribbean coast.

Farther south, Brazil is increasing purchases from Morocco and Gulf countries while also exploring a joint fertilizer and energy project with Bolivia, according to a senior Brazilian official. A law reducing taxes on chemical inputs used in fertilizer production was also recently signed, Brazil’s Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services said in a statement.

“Everyone is hunting,” Randy Place, senior grain analyst at The Hightower Report, said.

The provided chart offers a comparative analysis of Brazil’s monthly fertilizer inbound flow since January 2023. These insights are powered by Datamar’s DataLiner market intelligence:

Fertilizer Imports | Jan 2023 – Jan 2026 | WTMT

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

In key respects, the war in the Middle East marks a more dangerous moment than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which disrupted supply chains, in part because a larger share of global nitrogen fertilizer trade is now at stake.

The region accounts for more than one-third of urea exports and nearly one-quarter of ammonia exports, another key agricultural input. About half of sulfur trade, used in the production of phosphate fertilizers, also moves mainly through the Strait of Hormuz.

The disruptions caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine exposed the risks of relying on imported nutrients.

Efforts launched four years ago to strengthen supply have gained renewed urgency in recent weeks.

Unlike 2022, when Russian products were largely rerouted, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is far more restrictive. Shipments are being physically blocked at a critical maritime chokepoint.

India is facing particular pressure.

Fertilizer production is the country’s largest consumer of gas, and some factories have shut down because supplies of the fuel needed to produce nitrogen-based nutrients have declined.

To fill the gap, authorities are turning to China for cargoes. They have also approved at least one new type of fertilizer to shift toward less conventional alternatives.

In recent days, some urea producers have held daily meetings with farmers to curb excessive use, according to people familiar with the matter.

Sushil Kumar, a 42-year-old farmer in Haryana, is feeling the squeeze. He grows wheat and rice on about 20 acres of leased land but has been unable to find diammonium phosphate, a nutrient needed at planting. Local dealers have no stock.

“Fertilizer is never available when we need it,” Kumar said.

To get ahead of shortages, buyers are paying a premium.

Saudi Arabia and Morocco have sold cargoes to Latin America at elevated prices. Dangote Fertiliser, one of Africa’s largest suppliers, says demand has increased. Russia halted some fertilizer exports on Tuesday, but the Kremlin said last week it remains one of the few countries capable of meeting global demand.

“We are talking about an agricultural input that plays an important role in food security,” said Ticiana Alvares, technical director at Brazilian energy research firm INEEP.

“Those who fail to look after themselves and their national interests, who do not begin to look at regional supply chains instead of global ones, will go through very hard times.”

If the conflict drags into midyear, much of the world will lose out.

Major agricultural producers such as the United States, Brazil and India are already seeing margins squeezed, raising the threat of broader spillover into food prices.

Richer nations may be able to shield farmers with subsidies, but poorer countries face tighter budgets.

The risks are most severe in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of South Asia, where dependence on food imports is high and hunger is already a serious problem.

Nigeria, for example, has reported supply delays from Russia and China. Some West African nations are “extremely concerned” about protecting export crops such as cocoa and cotton, said Ashish Lakhotia, executive director for fertilizers and crop inputs at ETG.

Even Gulf producers are unable to fully capitalize on higher prices or soft-power advantages while the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, according to Nick Kraft, senior analyst at Eurasia Group, whose coverage includes agriculture.

If there is a winner, he said, it is China.

“As the world’s largest producer of urea, with large reserves and tight state control over exports, Beijing can protect its own agricultural system while forcing tighter conditions on everyone else,” he said. “That is exactly what it is doing now.”

In the United States, the Trump administration has tried to moderate price spikes. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in an interview that officials are “looking at every available tool” to relieve pressure on farmers.

Last week, Washington waived a shipping law so foreign-flagged vessels could transport fuel, fertilizers and other products between U.S. ports.

The White House is set to host agricultural executives at an event on Friday (March 27), in part to highlight the president’s efforts to lower input costs.

Farm groups are also lobbying to remove duties on phosphate fertilizers from Morocco, which holds some of the world’s largest reserves.

Even with those measures, Sherman Newlin, a farmer in Illinois, said the United States is unlikely to tame prices quickly or significantly unless the conflict ends and the Strait of Hormuz reopens.

“Every time they say they are going to make an announcement, it means nothing,” he said. “There is not much they can do.”

David Delaney, chief executive of phosphate producer Itafos, said he does not remember a more difficult period in his four decades in the industry.

After the war began, the United Nations warned of record hunger levels this year. If the conflict continues for several more months, tens of millions of people could face severe food insecurity.

“The world is used to big crops every year and to yields and harvests getting where they are needed,” he said. “I do not want to sound too alarmist yet, but this could be catastrophic if it lasts too long.”

Adapted from a report by Pratik Parija – Ilena Peng – Eleanor Thornber for Bloomberg Linea

Shipments totaled 5.04 million liters in milk equivalent, up 17.32% from January. Imports, meanwhile, reached 182.03 million liters in milk equivalent, an increase of 1.96% over the same comparison.

As a result, Brazil’s dairy trade deficit reached 177 million liters in milk equivalent in February, a volume 1.6% higher than in the previous month. In value terms, the negative balance stood at $72.18 million, up 0.7%.

Compared with February 2025, however, both exports and imports declined. Shipments fell 18.13%, while foreign purchases dropped 15.81%. The trade deficit in volume also narrowed 22% year on year.

On the import side, milk powder remained Brazil’s main dairy import, accounting for 79.7% of the total imported in February. Purchases of the product rose 7.57% from January to 145.11 million liters in milk equivalent. The average price fell 2.4% in the period to $3.21 per kilogram.

Datamar’s container throughput data show that Brazil imported 620 TEUs of powdered milk, across all product categories, in January 2026. The chart below shows Brazil’s monthly powdered milk import volumes:

Powdered Milk Imports | Jan. 2023 – Jan. 2026 | TEUs

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Cheese imports, which accounted for 19.4% of the total, dropped 16.83% from the previous month. Even so, the average price rose 21.6% to $8.29 per kilogram. Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay remained the main dairy suppliers to the Brazilian market.

On the export side, cheese and condensed milk accounted for the largest share of February shipments, with shares of 39.8% and 17.2%, respectively. Condensed milk exports fell 30.73% from January to 868,360 liters in milk equivalent.

Cheese shipments, by contrast, rose 28.88% over the same comparison, reaching 2.01 million liters in milk equivalent.

Source: Center for Advanced Studies on Applied Economics, Cepea (Esalq-USP)

The country is Brazil’s main fertilizer supplier. In 2025, Russia accounted for 25.9% of the chemical fertilizers purchased by Brazil, according to data from the Ministry of Foreign Trade.

Russia does not have the capacity to raise production this year amid a global supply crisis caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 24% of global ammonia trade passes. Ammonia is a key ingredient in ammonium nitrate.

Russia’s Agriculture Ministry said it had suspended all previously issued export licenses for ammonium nitrate and would not grant new ones, except for those tied to government contracts. Russia produces one-quarter of the world’s ammonium nitrate.

“Against the backdrop of growing export demand for nitrogen fertilizers, suspending foreign shipments will allow domestic market needs to be prioritized during the spring fieldwork season,” the ministry said.

Why exports are being halted

Ammonium nitrate is widely used in agriculture at the start of the planting season. Russia has had export limits in place since 2021, while producers have been asked by the government to prioritize supplies to the domestic market over exports.

Russia exports ammonium nitrate to Brazil, India, Peru, Mongolia, Morocco and Mozambique. It also exported a small amount of ammonium nitrate to the United States in 2024.

In February, Ukrainian drones struck the Dorogobuzh plant in western Russia, Acron’s main production asset, which accounts for about 11% of Russia’s ammonium nitrate output. The plant is not expected to return to full operations before May.

Ammonium nitrate is also used in the production of explosives.

Why Brazil needs to buy fertilizer abroad

In the fertilizer market, there are three key inputs that make up NPK, according to Cicero Lima, a professor at FGV Agro, the agribusiness arm of Fundação Getulio Vargas. They are:

• Nitrogen (N), of which Brazil imports 95%
• Phosphate (P), of which 75% is purchased abroad
• Potassium (K), of which 91% comes from outside the country

Consultant Carlos Cogo points to the main reasons behind that dependence:

Lack of raw materials: Brazil has limited reserves of the components essential for fertilizer production, especially nitrogen and potassium.

Potassium, for example, is concentrated in countries such as Canada, Russia and Belarus, which dominate the global market.

Brazil’s domestic nitrogen fertilizer industry, meanwhile, is small because production requires cheap natural gas, making it less competitive than countries such as the United States, Russia and Qatar.

In the case of phosphate, reserves are of lower quality and more expensive to exploit.

Strong demand: Domestic production cannot meet all of Brazilian agriculture’s fertilizer needs.

Although Brazil is a major food producer, its soils are poor in nutrients. As a result, frequent fertilization is needed to maintain productivity.

Demand for fertilizer comes mainly from crops such as soybeans, corn, coffee and sugarcane.

High costs: Imports are cheaper because logistics costs in Brazil are high and infrastructure is limited, Cogo said.

Brazil has had a National Fertilizer Plan in place since 2022. The goal is for the country to produce between 45% and 50% of the fertilizer it consumes by 2050.

To achieve that, the government plans to spend more than 25 billion reais by 2030, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.

Source: G1

According to container movement data compiled by Datamar’s market intelligence team, Brazil exported 8 TEUs of tilapia in January 2026—comprising whole fish as well as frozen, fresh, or chilled fillets—while imports reached 112 TEUs.

The following provides a full breakdown of Brazilian tilapia import volumes (including whole fish and various cuts) since January 2023:”

Tilapia Imports | Jan 2023 – Jan 2026 | TEUs

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

In February, the country imported more than 1,300 tonnes of tilapia fillets from Vietnam, equivalent to about 4,100 tonnes of live fish. The volume represents roughly 6.5% of Brazil’s monthly production.

The fish farming sector has expanded in recent years, with tilapia among the fastest-growing animal proteins in the country. According to the association, production has grown at an average rate of more than 10% annually over the past decade, placing Brazil as the world’s fourth-largest tilapia producer.

Peixe BR said the rise in imports reflects a price gap. Imported fillets have been sold in Brazil at BRL 25 to BRL 29 per kilogram.

“That is roughly the same price as fish arriving at processing plants in Brazil, creating a significant distortion in competition,” said Francisco Medeiros, president of Peixe BR.

The association attributes part of the loss of competitiveness to factors such as tax burden, labor costs and regulatory requirements, adding that in some cases imported products enter the country with tax advantages.

On sanitary issues, the group said it has requested that Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture send a technical mission to Vietnam to conduct an Import Risk Analysis. According to the association, diseases not yet identified in Brazil — such as the Tilapia Lake Virus (TiLV) — have been recorded in Vietnam.

“There are diseases in Vietnam that are not present here and have high mortality rates. We urgently need this assessment,” Medeiros said.

The increase in imports comes during Lent, when domestic demand for fish typically rises. Industry representatives said the inflow of foreign product could influence price formation in the local market.

“Exports help balance the domestic market. With rising imports, that effect is reduced, which could negatively impact the sector,” Medeiros said. “We are not against imports, but we need a level playing field to compete,” he added.

By Gabriella Weiss, CNN Brasil