Sinop is a city of 125,000
people located 400 miles north of Cuiabá,
the state capital of Mato Grosso.
The city was founded in 1974 and
the growth has been impressive. Sinop has a diverse economic environment. It
sits at the northern edge of the new frontier. It has a mix of lumber mills,
rice processors, soybean elevators, slaughter houses, and cotton gins. One
can see a truck load of logs from the frontier followed by a load of
soybeans harvested from newly cleared land near the city. Most of the
soybeans from this area are shipped south. However during the dry season
soybeans are shipped north to Santarém. Just to the North of Sinop the paved
road ends so only during May though September can trucks make the trip north
on dirt roads. The plan is for the multi-national grain companies in
partnership with state and federal governments to fund the paving of BR163
to the north all the way to the Amazon River.
The city has five universities, several new hospitals and public schools.
The city is well positioned to become the new capital of a new AG STATE
within Brazil. There are plans to divide the state of Mato Grosso by and
east/west boundary at about the center of the state. The boundary would be
located just to the south of a city called Nova Mutum. The Brazilian
government has a radar station located at Sinop to help monitor the rate of
clearing inside the Amazon rain forest.
Despite rains, which are
normal for this time of year, the harvest moves forward.
Yields around 56 sacs/ha.
Sinop
exports increased 37%, soybeans and corn lead
5 Dec
Soy industrialized
in Sinop is still the main product sold abroad. 69.36% of the total
volume exported is oilseeds (including crushed grains) which
corresponds to US$ 95.4 million in business. The latest assessment
shows that January through October increased by 37.41% over the same
period in 2010, according to Ministry of Development, Industry and
Foreign Trade. The total trade was US$ 137.6 million.
So Noticas (newspaper) and Agronotícias found that corn is the
second best-selling business reaching R$ 20.9 million. Boneless beef
represents US$ 11.3 million; tripas comes in at US$ 2.2 million, and
other edibles at US$ 1.6 million.
China is the main buyer, with business reaching a US$ 68.7 million.
Next comes Thailand, with US$ 9.5 million followed by Iran and
Russia at US$ 6.3 million each and Hong Kong and Taiwan totaling US$
5.6 million each. Exports also go to another 23 international
destinations.
