SLC Agricola took its Brazilian landbank above 300,000 hectares, an area bigger than Luxembourg, with its fourth purchase in four months, in a deal which highlighted the price gap between different parts of the country
Fertile soil and good water supply – but lagging development – present a compelling opportunity for agriculture investors, finds Stephanie Schwartz-Driver
The Brazilian government's decision to block major foreign land purchases from August 2010 has had a very real impact: prices for lots larger than 3,000 hectares have fallen by 10% or more over the past year, depending on the region.
SLC Agricola has bought its second farm in Brazil's Piaui state in less than two months, expanding into a relatively undeveloped area where land prices are a fraction of those in more popular regions.
While Brazil touts its efforts to slow destruction of the Amazon, another biodiverse region of the country is being cleared for large-scale farming. But unlike the heralded rainforest it borders, the loss of the cerrado and its rich tropical savanna so far has failed to attract much notice.
SLC, whose crops cover 223,000 hectares, will sell a 49 percent slice of the new company, Land Co., to local or foreign investors that may include sovereign and pension funds
