Cargill has paused soybean export operations from Brazil to China after inspection changes made by the Brazilian Government that make it difficult for traders to comply, the company's Latin America head Paulo Sousa said on Wednesday.
Sousa said Brazil's Agriculture Ministry adopted a stricter sanitary evaluation on soybeans bound for China to check for pests and weeds after a request from the Chinese Government. He said the new system is something unusual in the grains market.
"We have a standard inspection system in the trade, with samplings. Brazil's Agriculture Ministry started doing its own new type of analysis," Sousa said, adding the change brings different results from inspections.
"As a result, sanitary certificates that need to go along with the shipments to the destination, in some cases are not being issued," he said on the sidelines of the Argentina Week 2026 conference hosted by Bank of America in New York.
Without the certificates, soy vessels cannot travel.
Cargill has also stopped buying beans from local farmers in Brazil, Sousa said, since it cannot export them to China for the moment.
Some posts on social media on Wednesday by Brazilian grain brokers and farmers cited that there were hardly any bids by traders to buy local soybeans.
China is by far the biggest client of Brazilian soybeans, buying around 80 per cent of the beans the South American country exports. Brazil is the world's largest producer and exporter of the oilseed.
The executive said the new inspections started early last week. There are ongoing negotiations, but so far no solution, he said.
Brazil's Agriculture Ministry did not return a request for comment late on Wednesday.
Brazilian grains export lobby ANEC said in a note on Wednesday there are worries among exporters about how they will be able to align operations to the new inspection system when Brazil is in the peak period of soy exports.
(Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira; Additional reporting by Roberto Samora in Sao Paulo; Editing by Chris Reese)