THE Egypt opened its market cotton in feather to exports of Brazil after a process that had dragged on since 2006, said the Brazilian Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Favaroto journalists.
After meeting with the president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva he pointed out that Egypt is a niche market that gives a seal to the quality of the product from Brazil.
Brazil is the second largest cotton exporter in the world, behind the United States, and has been gaining markets especially in Asia where demand grows the most, betting on fiber quality programs.
“Everyone wants to buy a shirt or sheet with Egyptian cotton, because of the quality of the Egyptian cotton. If you are going to export, it means you have quality, you have credibility, you have respect…”, he said.
According to the minister, Egypt is not a “very large market”, but “it is a quality niche, we received the seal of quality for Brazilian cotton”.
Egypt currently imports around 120,000 tonnes of cotton per year, with Greece, Burkina Faso, Benin and Sudan among the main suppliers, according to a note from the ministry.
The expectation of the sector in Brazil is to supply around 20% of imports from Egypt in the coming years, the president of the Brazilian Association of Cotton Producers (Abrapa), Alexandre Pedro Schenkel, told Reuters.
“It will depend on our promotion”, he said about the need to promote the Brazilian product to gain market share in the new market.
The raw material that can be purchased from Brazil is medium fiber, according to the ministry, which noted that the inauguration of a textile park in Egypt may increase demand in the coming years.
Schenkel added that Brazilian producers will have to remain attentive to the phytosanitary issue, as buyers from Egypt are very concerned about protection against pests.
“From the moment we send the feather there, we have to be careful not to send pests to them.”
Also during his speech at the Planalto Palace, Minister Fávaro announced that China has rehabilitated three slaughterhouses in Brazil, one for beef and two for poultry, while Indonesia has enabled another 11 beef slaughterhouses in the country.