By Brazil Stock Guide – COFCO International shipped its first large-scale cargo of Brazilian sorghum to China on Thursday, marking an expansion of agricultural trade between the two countries. The grain departed from Santos and is bound for Guangzhou.
The transaction confirms a Reuters report published earlier in August. The sorghum was loaded at the Terminal Export COFCO, known as TEC, and will arrive at the Port of Nansha before being distributed in China by COFCO Trading.
New outlet for Brazilian growers
The opening of the Chinese market gives Brazilian producers another option for selling the grain and allows COFCO to broaden the range of agricultural commodities handled through its Brazilian operations.
“The opening of the Chinese market creates new opportunities for Brazilian sorghum, expanding marketing alternatives for producers and connecting domestic production to a major consumer market,” Luiz Noto, chief executive officer of COFCO’s Grains and Oilseeds division in Brazil, said in a statement.
“For COFCO International, this shipment reinforces our role in trading different agricultural commodities and the company’s ability to connect Brazilian production with strategic markets,” Noto added.
COFCO International and its parent, China’s state-owned COFCO Group, don’t have publicly traded shares and therefore have no stock ticker.
China’s sorghum demand
China is a major consumer of sorghum, which is primarily used as an ingredient in animal feed. The grain is also used to produce baijiu, a traditional Chinese alcoholic beverage.
Brazilian suppliers offer China an alternative to the US, where sorghum sales to Chinese buyers declined during the 2025 trade war. Brazil is already one of China’s leading suppliers of soy products and beef.
The large-scale shipment adds sorghum to the agricultural trade channels connecting Brazilian production with Chinese demand.
Commercial shipment follows January test
Brazil made its first sorghum export to China since 2014 in January. That cargo was small enough to fit into a single container and was regarded as a test shipment, according to data obtained by Reuters.
The latest transaction differs in both scale and logistics. The grain was handled at a dedicated export terminal and will be distributed by COFCO’s trading operation after reaching Guangzhou.
Additional Brazilian sorghum shipments to China are listed in vessel schedules, indicating that more cargoes are planned after the Santos operation.
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