This article analyzes the situation of Brazilian agribusiness worldwide, which is characterized primarily by the ascendancy of China and its demand for agricultural commodities, especially the feed chains where the Mercosur, and especially Brazil, becomes the main supplier. There is the threat that in this new dynamics Mercosur falls increasingly on international trade as a mere supplier of raw materials. This scenario is complicated due to the transnationalization of the leading companies in this sector. Against this, the agricultural expansion into the Midwest and Northern Brazil creates opportunities for the raise of new segments in both domestic processing activities such as logistics and trade. The importance of markets for differentiated products either disappears because if the Northern markets become less dynamic, a new middle class globally appears. We followed a dynamic of domestic market of that overall process. To seize these opportunities, however, Brazil has to negotiate a more complex environment, where leadership in research and innovation goes to transnational corporations.
Brazilian agribusiness; global commodity markets; transnationalization