Latin America agrochemical import watch | 2026 data update: Brazil, Argentina, Mexico
UN Comtrade data for HS 3808: Brazil, January to August 2026; Argentina, January to June; Mexico, January to July. Import values fell in Brazil and Mexico and rose in Argentina, while China’s share increased in all three.
This monthly column follows imports under HS heading 38.08 into Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, using the statistics available in UN Comtrade [1]. In the extract used for this issue, Brazil is available through August 2026, Mexico through July and Argentina through June; each country is compared with the same months of 2025.
Heading 38.08 covers pesticide and related products, including disinfectants, in retail forms or packings, as preparations or as articles [2]. It therefore extends beyond agricultural pesticides. Technical active substances classified in chapters 28 and 29 are outside this dataset; classification depends on the product and how it is presented [2][3][4]. Values are reported in US dollars: CIF for Brazil and Argentina, FOB for Mexico [1]. These valuation bases differ, so cross country value comparisons need care. Brazil and Argentina were cross checked against Comex Stat and INDEC [5][6]; Mexico was not independently cross checked against national statistics for this issue.
1. Year to date totals by country
Table 1 compares each country's reported months with the same months of 2025. Because the countries end at different months, the last two rows repeat Brazil and Mexico for January to June, the window all three share.
Table 1. Imports under heading 38.08, 2026 against the same months of 2025 [1]
| Country | Months | 2026, USD million | 2025, same months | Change | From China 2026, USD million | Change from China |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil | Jan to Aug | 3,077.7 | 3,389.9 | −9.2% | 1,610.1 | +7.7% |
| Argentina | Jan to Jun | 285.6 | 261.4 | +9.3% | 96.9 | +21.3% |
| Mexico (FOB) | Jan to Jul | 535.7 | 592.9 | −9.6% | 110.3 | +32.2% |
| Brazil | Jan to Jun | 1,836.3 | 2,124.8 | −13.6% | 827.0 | −1.8% |
| Mexico (FOB) | Jan to Jun | 436.5 | 491.2 | −11.1% | 88.8 | +28.0% |
In the common January to June window, Brazil's imports fell 13.6% and Mexico's 11.1%, while Argentina's rose 9.3%. For the full year 2025, Brazil reported USD 5,747.5 million, Argentina USD 707.1 million and Mexico USD 984.5 million [1]. Brazil's net weight in January to August 2026 was 571.5 million kg, 4.3% less than a year earlier, so value fell more than volume (Table 5).
2. Month by month
Single months swing widely in both directions in all three countries, so the totals in Table 1 are the better guide to direction.
Table 2. Monthly imports under heading 38.08 in 2026, change from the same month of 2025 (blank: unavailable in this Comtrade extract) [1]
| Month | Brazil, USD million | Change | Argentina, USD million | Change | Mexico, USD million | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 280.8 | −27.7% | 28.1 | −7.6% | 41.4 | −22.0% |
| February | 173.1 | −45.0% | 28.1 | +1.6% | 66.6 | +13.4% |
| March | 350.3 | +50.0% | 59.4 | +63.0% | 78.5 | −15.2% |
| April | 269.1 | −11.9% | 58.3 | +27.8% | 63.7 | −35.1% |
| May | 304.0 | −20.3% | 45.1 | −5.7% | 84.0 | −3.8% |
| June | 458.9 | −8.4% | 66.6 | −9.3% | 102.3 | +1.0% |
| July | 593.7 | −10.6% | 99.3 | −2.3% | ||
| August | 647.7 | +7.8% |
Brazil's monthly imports rose from USD 304.0 million in May to USD 647.7 million in August. August was only the second month of 2026, after March, above the same month of 2025. Argentina's highest month so far was June (USD 66.6 million), and so was Mexico's (USD 102.3 million).
3. China's share of each country's imports
China supplied 52.3% of Brazil's imports under heading 38.08 in January to August 2026, against 44.1% a year earlier: imports from China rose 7.7% while imports from all origins fell 9.2%. China's share was higher than in the same month of 2025 in seven of the eight months and reached 65.6% in August, the highest of the 20 months in this series.
Table 3. China’s share of imports under heading 38.08 by value; year to date uses each country’s window in Table 1 (blank: unavailable in this Comtrade extract) [1]
| Month | Brazil 2025 | Brazil 2026 | Argentina 2025 | Argentina 2026 | Mexico 2025 | Mexico 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46.3% | 47.6% | 27.9% | 35.2% | 11.7% | 18.4% |
| February | 30.2% | 42.2% | 40.4% | 26.5% | 15.0% | 16.7% |
| March | 31.9% | 39.1% | 19.7% | 27.2% | 7.6% | 15.2% |
| April | 34.5% | 34.3% | 46.8% | 26.9% | 16.3% | 23.2% |
| May | 41.8% | 46.1% | 33.3% | 30.9% | 22.8% | 25.5% |
| June | 45.5% | 54.7% | 21.4% | 50.7% | 11.2% | 21.5% |
| July | 51.0% | 60.3% | 30.8% | 13.9% | 21.7% | |
| August | 52.3% | 65.6% | 36.1% | 10.4% | ||
| Year to date | 44.1% | 52.3% | 30.6% | 33.9% | 14.1% | 20.6% |
In Argentina, China's share rose to 33.9% from 30.6% in January to June, but the months were mixed: higher than a year earlier in three and lower in three. In Mexico, China's share was higher than a year earlier in every month from January to July, and imports from China rose 32.2% to USD 110.3 million while imports from all origins fell 9.6%.
4. By product group
For this analysis, the insecticide group combines 3808.91 with the Note 2 goods in 3808.61, 3808.62 and 3808.69. These are separate HS6 subheadings, so they do not overlap. Fungicides are 3808.92. The herbicide group is 3808.93, which also includes antisprouting products and plant growth regulators. Other comprises the Note 1 goods in 3808.52 and 3808.59, disinfectants in 3808.94, and 3808.99 [2]. These analytical groups are not complete classifications by end use. China’s share in Table 4 is imports from China divided by imports from all origins within the same reported group.
Table 4. Imports by product group: Brazil January to August, Argentina January to June, Mexico January to July (FOB) [1]
| Country | Group | 2026, USD million | Change | From China, USD million | China share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil | Insecticides and Note 2 goods | 1,167.5 | −10.9% | 470.3 | 40.3% |
| Brazil | Fungicides | 498.9 | −11.8% | 94.2 | 18.9% |
| Brazil | Herbicide group | 1,310.5 | −8.8% | 1,033.0 | 78.8% |
| Brazil | Other | 100.8 | +29.9% | 12.6 | 12.5% |
| Argentina | Insecticides and Note 2 goods | 52.0 | −1.6% | 5.4 | 10.3% |
| Argentina | Fungicides | 58.6 | +29.5% | 2.0 | 3.4% |
| Argentina | Herbicide group | 159.1 | +10.7% | 85.0 | 53.4% |
| Argentina | Other | 15.9 | −18.9% | 4.6 | 28.8% |
| Mexico | Insecticides and Note 2 goods | 108.0 | −33.1% | 22.0 | 20.4% |
| Mexico | Fungicides | 89.5 | −15.4% | 11.8 | 13.2% |
| Mexico | Herbicide group | 116.6 | +24.7% | 61.3 | 52.5% |
| Mexico | Other | 123.0 | +4.6% | 12.7 | 10.3% |
| Mexico | Not allocated | 98.6 | −14.0% | 2.5 | 2.6% |
In Brazil, the herbicide group was the largest and China supplied 78.8% of its import value. Within the insecticide group, 3808.69 rose 12.6% to USD 520.9 million while 3808.91 fell 22.4% to USD 635.9 million. In Argentina, the herbicide group was 55.7% of total HS 3808 imports and fungicides grew 29.5%, with China supplying 3.4% of that group’s import value. Mexico’s reported HS6 records leave 18.4% of total HS 3808 import value unallocated; 3808.61 and 3808.69 are absent from the series examined. Its group figures therefore describe the allocated records, rather than the full product mix. Within those records, the herbicide group rose 24.7% and imports of that group from China rose 61.6%; 3808.94 disinfectants accounted for USD 103.8 million within Other [1].
Table 5. Brazil, January to August: net weight and aggregate CIF import value per kg [1][5]
| Origin | Group | Net weight 2026, million kg | Change | USD per kg 2026 | USD per kg 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All origins | Insecticides and Note 2 goods | 148.6 | +1.0% | 7.86 | 8.91 |
| All origins | Fungicides | 96.4 | −12.3% | 5.17 | 5.14 |
| All origins | Herbicide group | 309.3 | −4.6% | 4.24 | 4.43 |
| All origins | Heading 38.08 | 571.5 | −4.3% | 5.39 | 5.67 |
| China | Insecticides and Note 2 goods | 81.9 | +14.9% | 5.74 | 5.90 |
| China | Fungicides | 21.9 | −16.1% | 4.29 | 4.04 |
| China | Herbicide group | 281.0 | −4.3% | 3.68 | 3.25 |
| China | Heading 38.08 | 392.0 | −1.6% | 4.11 | 3.75 |
UN Comtrade flags Brazil’s total net weight from all origins as estimated; monthly comparisons with Comex Stat differ by no more than 0.12% [1][5]. Net weight from China fell 1.6% while aggregate CIF import value per kg from China rose 9.4%. For the herbicide group, the value per kg rose from USD 3.25 to USD 3.68. These unit values divide total import value by net weight and combine different products, concentrations and pack sizes; they do not measure changes in prices for equivalent products.
5. What to watch next month
- Coverage: Argentina for July, Mexico for August and Brazil for September, once they appear in UN Comtrade [1].
- Brazil: Comex Stat already shows USD 613.1 million under heading 38.08 for September 2026, 61.6% of it from China [5], against USD 804.6 million in September 2025, the largest month of 2025 [1].
- Season: under the 2026/27 calendar, the permitted soybean sowing windows opened between 1 and 20 September in Paraná, by region [7], and on 7 September in Mato Grosso [8]. Brazil's four largest import months in 2025 were July to October [1].
- Argentina: INDEC data for July to September 2026 total USD 236.2 million, against USD 238.0 million a year earlier [6][1].
- Mexico: whether China's higher share holds, and whether the part without a subheading narrows.
Further reading
- [1] UN Comtrade (2026). Public API preview: monthly imports of HS 3808 by Brazil, Argentina and Mexico (June 2026 query shown).
- [2] World Customs Organization (2022). HS Nomenclature 2022 edition, Chapter 38.
- [3] World Customs Organization (2022). HS Nomenclature 2022 edition, Chapter 28.
- [4] World Customs Organization (2022). HS Nomenclature 2022 edition, Chapter 29.
- [5] Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services of Brazil (2026). Comex Stat raw database.
- [6] INDEC (2026). Foreign trade: monthly import database 2026.
- [7] Adapar (2026). Soybean sanitary break and sowing periods for the 2026/2027 season in Paraná.
- [8] CNA (2026). Mato Grosso soybean calendar keeps the June to September sanitary break for 2026.