Cargill recorded the net accounting losses of $ 1.7 billion in 2024 in Brazil, which leads to the reversal of the $ 2.5 billion profit obtained in the previous year. On the other hand, the operating result (EBIT) grew from $ 2.3 billion to $ 4.1 billion in the same period, reaching the largest level in the company’s history in the country. The company maintained investments of $ 1.7 billion in the country during the past year.
“In an interview with Brazil Agro broadcastThe real time system of the state group.
The Executive Authority indicated that the loss was specifically due to the 28 % difference in the exchange rate between December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2024, which affected the company’s external loans.
“We are a naturally exported company, so we have revenues in dollars. 80 % of our recipes are dollars,” Soussa said. “Our financing, our financing, is also a dolaized.”
According to him, Cargill does not have an accounting hedge because he considers what he considers a “natural hedge” with his operations mostly in foreign currency. “This causes accounting damage, without a critical effect,” he said.
One of the factors that affected the result is the cost of “taking or paying” in railways. The company adhered to the shipping sizes that were not achieved due to crop breaks.
The total volume of products that arose, processing and marketing decreased from 51 million tons by 2023 to 45 million by 2024.
According to Sousa, the reduction reflects crop breaks occurred in this period. “In terms of total size, it was less than 2023, because we were frustrated in the harvest last year, one no, two. The summer crop faced a problem, soybeans in Mato Grosso, then in front of the sacrifices gave a problem almost everywhere,” he explained.
In parallel, shipping on the roads was cheaper than the railway, as it was reflected in the usual logic of the market. “We had a scenario last year that shipping the road was much cheaper than shipping with railways. Usually, this was the opposite.”
“We were bought in the railway shipping, imagining the full crop, we had a decrease in the summer crop and then we reduced the winter crop,” said CEO.
The situation has been exacerbated by the retaining of the product by the producers, especially in Mato Grosso, who expected the unacceptable international prices. “The rural producer, Matto Grosso, lost the frequency of marketing, and carried the product because he really lost. He had less production. The market did not rise,” Soussa said.
Parallel, shipping the road was cheaper than railwaysReverse the usual logic of the market. “We had a scenario last year that shipping the road was much cheaper than shipping with railways. Usually, this was the opposite.”
By 2025, the logistical recruitment strategy was redesigned after the negative scenario of 2024, although the executive authority may avoid detailing specific changes.
The scenario contradicts the 2023, when Cargill has recorded record results. That year, Soussa described Brazil as a country “without competition” in the Saoy International Market, benefiting from a “climate reward” while Argentina faced “climate tragedy” with a break more than 50 % of its crop.
In the past five years, the company has applied $ 8.1 billion in Brazil, running 29 factories, 75 warehouses, seven parties to ports and several other facilities. In 2024, Cargill was introduced to combine the three biological diesel plants and four Granol warehouses and completed the tests at the new Porto Felho station (RO).
For 2025, Sousa is optimistic about the restoration of crops. He said: “We have areas of West Parana, Rio Grande de Sol, that we have faced problems with the summer crop, but in return, we are practical throughout Brazil with a very good scenario, this year, and we will have, everything leads to belief, Safrinha is very good.”
The executive authority also highlighted the improvement in the financial situation of the producers. He also said: “We see the cases of producers who had to re -negotiate debt last year, and improve their debt image in a very important way.”
He added: “Chicken, pig, everyone has very good profitability as well, and this enhances the quality of demand for the corn market.”
On credit errors and financiers
Cargill states that he was exposed to the increase in judicial recovery operations in the Brazilian agricultural work by 2024. According to the president of the company in Brazil, Paulo Sousa, although the company faced some cases, most of them were resolved through direct negotiation with producers. “No, he is not big,” said CEO. And he said to Agro broadcast.
The number of legal recovery operations in AGRO increased by 138 % last year, according to SeraSa Experian, reaching 1,272 requests. The increase was mainly withdrawn by individual producers, who recorded approximately 350 % in requests to 566 cases. Between legal entities, soy producers led, with 222 cases.
Sousa stated that despite the challenges, Cargill avoided greater damage by negotiating outside the court. “We negotiated with many people last year without judicial recovery. Life continued,” he said. “Of course, it is a problem. We are not escaped without authors, but for our profile and our product definition file, we have a very small post regarding the size of the problem there.”
The executive authority attributed the crisis to a mixture of Excessive credit and entry of financiers No experience in the sector. “The problem is usually more than credit,” he said. “The agricultural market contains an event or two liquidity event, namely the harvest. If this does not work now, there will be another liquidity event in six months or in one year.”
For Sousa, the inappropriate understanding of the liquidity course is the weakest credit system. He said: “This dynamic of agricultural financing must usually be a person who specializes in being able to be able to word, word, stomach, and know how to deal with it.” “There have been a lot of new credit markets, not everyone is ready to do this. New credit tools are very good, but sometimes they were used with a little neglect, and generating a problem.”
In the case of the Monesanto Group Tavares (GMT), a source of coffee went to the judicial recovery to restructure $ 2.13 billion, Soussa explained that the Cargill Show is not related to production financing. “In the case of the coffee company, we were not in the material coffee market for some time,” he said. “Their problem was related to changing the future coffee market called Margin Call, and our business was with them to manage risk management.”
The CEO reported that the commercial relationship was distinguished from traditional credit operations. “Another line of our products, but it was not regarding financing production, no financing, nor preparation for export, nothing of that is,” he said.
In March, the Minas Gerais Court rejected a resumption submitted by Cargill, who requested the cancellation of the judicial protection granted to the Defense Army in December 2024. The company tried to overthrow the “residence period”, which prevents charges and death against the group while negotiating the recovery plan.
With the decision, GMT supported the temporary shield. According to the list of creditors presented in this process, Cargill must get about $ 106.5 million from the group, as it is the largest creditor among commercial companies. More than 90 % of the total GMT debt is concentrated in banks.
Soussa strengthened the need to adapt the financial sector to the characteristics of agricultural business. “The agricultural market does not include aggressive implementation,” he said.
