SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL — Corn exports from Brazil have increased by 221% in the first half of 2022 as importers seek to replace Ukrainian corn that isn’t making it to market due to the ongoing war with Russia, according to a report from Reuters.

The report cited Paranagua Port Authority statistics showing that 1.9 million tonnes of corn were exported from ports in Brazil’s Parana state from January to June, compared with 591,538 tonnes during the same period in 2021.

Brazilian farmers are completing harvest of their winter corn crop, which accounts for the majority of the country’s annual corn production.

Brazil is projected to obliterate previous corn production and export records in the 2022-23 marketing year, according to the Foreign Agricultural Service of the US Department of Agriculture. The FAS forecasts production to reach 126 million tonnes, up from last year’s record crop of 116 million tonnes, while exports are projected at 47 million tonnes, up from 44.5 million tonnes in 2021-22.

Meanwhile, war-torn Ukraine, the fourth largest grain exporter in the world, is projected to produce 25 million tonnes of corn (down from 42 million last year) and export just 9 million tonnes after exporting 24 million in 2021-22.