Agriculture The main agricultural products grown are: •
soy (35% of the country's production, which is the world's largest producer); •
maize (35% of the country's production, which is the 3rd world producer); •
tobacco (almost all the production of the country, which is the second largest producer in the world and the largest exporter); •
rice (80% of the country's production, which is the ninth largest producer in the world); •
grape (almost all the production of the country, which is the eleventh largest producer in the world); •
apple (almost all the production of the country, which is the thirteenth world producer); •
wheat (almost all the country's production); •
oat (almost all the country's production); •
sugar cane (8% of the country's production, which is the world's largest producer); •
cassava (25% of the country's production, which is the fifth largest producer in the world); •
yerba mate (almost all the production of the country, which is one of the largest producers in the world); •
bean (26% of the country's production, which is the third largest producer in the world); in addition to producing relevant quantities of: •
orange (6% of the country's production, which is the world's largest producer); •
tangerine (30% of the country's production, which is the sixth largest producer in the world); •
persimmon (20% of the country's production, which is the sixth largest producer in the world); •
barley,
peach,
fig and
onion (most of the country's production); •
strawberry.
Livestock In 2017, the southern region gathered around 12% of Brazil's cattle (27 million head of cattle). In
sheep farming, in 2017, the South Region was the second largest in the country, with 4.2 million head. Sheep shearing activity continued to be predominant in the South, which is responsible for 99% of wool production in the country. Rio Grande do Sul continued to be the state with the highest national participation, representing 94.1% of the total. The municipalities of Santana do Livramento, Alegrete and Quaraí led the activity. Currently, meat production has become the main objective of sheep farming in the State, due to the increase in prices paid to the producer that made the activity more attractive and profitable. In
pork, the 3 southern states are the largest producers in the country. Santa Catarina is the largest producer in Brazil. The State is responsible for 28.38% of the country's slaughter and 40.28% of Brazilian pork exports. Paraná, for its part, has a breeding stock of 667 thousand inhabited dwellings, with a herd representing 17.85% of the Brazilian total. Paraná occupies the second position in the country's productive ranking, with 21.01%, and the third place among exporting states, with 14.22%. In third place in Brazil is Rio Grande do Sul, with almost 15% participation.
Mining Santa Catarina is the largest producer of
coal in Brazil, mainly in the city of
Criciúma and its surroundings. Crude mineral coal production in Brazil was 13.6 million tons in 2007. Santa Catarina produced 8.7 Mt (million tons); Rio Grande do Sul, 4.5 Mt; and Paraná, 0.4 Mt. Despite the extraction of mineral coal in Brazil, the country still needs to import around 50% of the coal consumed, since the coal produced in the country is of low quality, since it has a lower concentration of carbon. Countries supplying mineral coal to Brazil include South Africa, the United States and Australia. Mineral coal in Brazil supplies, in particular, thermoelectric plants that consume around 85% of production. The cement industry in the country, on the other hand, is supplied with approximately 6% of this coal, leaving 4% for the production of cellulose paper and only 5% in the food, ceramic and grain industries. Brazil has reserves of
peat,
lignite and
hard coal. Coal totals 32 billion tons of reserves and is mainly located in Rio Grande do Sul (89.25% of the total), followed by Santa Catarina (10.41%). The Candiota (RS) deposit only has 38% of all the national coal. As it is an inferior quality coal, it is used only in thermoelectric power generation and at the deposit site. The oil crisis in the 1970s led the Brazilian government to create the Energy Mobilization Plan, with intense research to discover new coal reserves. The Geological Survey of Brazil, through works carried out in Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, greatly increased previously known coal reserves between 1970 and 1986 (mainly between 1978 and 1983). Then good quality coal, suitable for use in metallurgy and in large volumes (seven billion tons), was discovered in several deposits in Rio Grande do Sul (Morungava, Chico Lomã, Santa Teresinha), but at relatively great depths (up to 1,200 m), which has prevented its use until now. In 2011, coal represented only 5.6% of the energy consumed in Brazil, but it is an important strategic source, which can be activated when, for example, the water levels in the dams are very low, reducing the excess supply of water. hydroelectric power. This happened in 2013, when several thermoelectric plants were closed, thus maintaining the necessary supply, although at a higher cost. Paraná is the largest producer of
oil shale in Brazil. In the city of
São Mateus do Sul, there is a plant
Petrobras specialized in the production of the material. Approximately 7,800 tons are processed daily. Rio Grande do Sul is an important producer of gemstones. Brazil is the world's largest producer of
amethyst and
agate, and Rio Grande do Sul is the country's largest producer. Agate has had local extraction since 1830. The largest producer of amethyst in Brazil is the city of
Ametista do Sul. This stone was very rare and expensive throughout the world, until the discovery of large deposits in Brazil, which caused a considerable drop in its value.
Industry in
Jaraguá do Sul, Santa Catarina The region concentrates 20% of the industrial
GDP of the country. In 2019, Paraná was the second largest
vehicle producer in the country (Brazil is one of the 10 largest vehicle producers in the world). Paraná has in its territory the Volkswagen, Renault, Audi, Volvo and DAF factories; Santa Catarina has GM and BMW plants and Rio Grande do Sul, a GM plant. In the
food industry, in 2019, Brazil was the second largest exporter of processed foods in the world, with a value of US$34.1 billion in exports. Regarding the creation of national or multinational companies, Rio Grande do Sul created companies such as Neugebauer, Camil Alimentos, Fruki, Cervejaria Polar, Vinícola Aurora and Vinícola Salton. Santa Catarina created companies such as Sadia and Perdigão (which later merged into BRF), Seara Alimentos (which today belongs to JBS), Aurora, Gomes da Costa, Cervejaria Eisenbahn and Hemmer Alimentos. Paraná created companies such as: Frimesa, C.Vale, Nutrimental, Copacol, Coopavel and Matte Leão. In the
footwear industry, in 2019 Brazil produced 972 million pairs, being the fourth largest producer in the world, behind China, India and Vietnam, and ranks 11th among the largest exporters. The Brazilian state that most exports the product is Rio Grande do Sul: in 2019 it exported US$448.35 million. Most of the product goes to the United States, Argentina and France. Santa Catarina also has a shoe production center in São João Batista. In the
textile industry, Brazil, despite being among the 5 largest producers in the world in 2013, and being representative in the consumption of textiles and clothing, had very little insertion in world trade. In 2015, Brazilian imports ranked 25th (US$5.5 billion). And in exports, it only ranked 40th in the world ranking. Brazil's participation in the world trade of textiles and clothing is only 0.3%, due to the difficulty of competing in price with producers in India and mainly in China. The South had 32.65% of the country's textile production. Santa Catarina is the second largest textile and clothing employer in Brazil. It held the national leadership in the manufacture of pillows and is the largest producer in Latin America and the second in the world in woven labels. It's the nation's largest exporter of toilet / kitchen linen, cotton terry fabrics and cotton knit shirts. Some of the most famous companies in the region are Hering, Malwee, Karsten and Haco. In the
electronics industry, the industry turnover in Brazil reached R $153.0 billion in 2019, around 3% of the national GDP. The number of employees in the sector was 234,500 people. Brazil has two large electroelectronic production poles, located in Campinas, in the State of São Paulo, and in the Manaus Free Zone, in the State of Amazonas. The country also has other smaller centers, one of which is Curitiba, the capital of Paraná. The Curitiba technology center has companies such as Siemens and Positivo Informática. In total, 87 companies and 16 thousand employees work in Tecnoparque, an area of 127 thousand square meters created by state law in 2007. Tecnoparque can grow to 400 thousand square meters and receive up to four times the number of workers it has today, reaching 68 thousand people. In the
home appliance industry, sales of so-called "white line" equipment were 12.9 million units in 2017. The sector had its sales peak in 2012, with 18.9 million units. The brands that sold the most were Brastemp, Electrolux, Consul and Philips. Consul is originally from Santa Catarina, merged with Brastemp and today is part of the multinational Whirlpool Corporation. Another famous brand from the South was Prosdócimo, founded in Curitiba, which was sold to Electrolux. In the small electrical appliances sector, the Britânia company is originally from Curitiba. In the metallurgical sector, the South has one of the most famous companies in the country, Tramontina, which employs more than 8,500 employees and has 10 production units. Other famous companies in the South are Marcopolo, a bus body manufacturer, which had a market value of R $2.782 billion in 2015, and Randon, a group of 9 companies specialized in transport solutions, which groups together vehicle manufacturers, auto parts, and road equipment – employs around 11 thousand people and recorded gross sales in 2017 of R $4.2 billion. In Santa Catarina, the machinery and equipment industry stands out in the manufacture of compressors, being a leader in exports of this product among the states of the country, in addition to being an important producer of forestry equipment. In metallurgy, the state has the largest national manufacturer of sinks, vats and stainless steel tanks, trophies and medals, fasteners (screws, nuts, etc.), jacketed tanks for fuels, industrial pressure vessels and malleable iron connections. It is the world leader in engine blocks and iron heads, being the largest exporter of this product in Brazil. In the
pulp and
paper sector, Brazilian pulp production was 19,691 million tons in 2019. The country exported US$7.48 billion in pulp this year, US$3.25 billion to China alone. Exports of the Brazilian forest industry totaled US$9.7 billion (US$7.48 billion in pulp, US$2 billion in paper, and US$265 million in wood panels). Paper production was 10,535 million tons in 2019. The country exported 2,163 million tons. In 2016, the pulp and paper industry in the south of the country represented 33% of the national total. This year, Paraná was the national leader in the production of roundwood (mainly eucalyptus) for the pulp and paper industry (15.9 million m3); Brazil was the second country that produced the most pulp in the world and the eighth in the production of paper. The city that produced the most these woods in Brazil was Telêmaco Borba (PR), and the fifth largest was Ortigueira (PR). == Energy ==