Part of rural producers has resorted to judicial recovery. The numbers, for now, are still discreet.
The combination of negative events both in the local and global scenario, including the lack or excess of rains in certain Brazilian regions and the war in ukraine, pushed part of agribusiness into a situation that worries creditors in the sector.
From 2020 onwards, there were about 50 requests for judicial recovery. But this is just the tip of an iceberg, according to experts.
This is because this year there has been a strong growth in demand for restructuring, something that should soon be reflected in the survey.
A recent change in the law allows even individual rural producers, without a CNPJ, to seek legal protection in order to negotiate debts.
“The agribusiness sector is doing well and has helped the national economy, but the pandemic has affected everyone. When the industry believed there would be a recovery, there was the issue of the Ukraine war, affecting fertilizers. The climate issue was the shovel”, says Eduardo Kawatami, a lawyer at the Dasa office.
Partner at the Lefosse office, Roberto Zarour says that cost pressure remains high.
According to the expert, many creditors are considering executing producer debts, which should speed up requests for judicial recovery.
He also emphasizes that, despite the new Safra Plan having a record value, its cost is higher, which puts more pressure on producers.
The group from Mato Grosso, Redenção, recently had its judicial recovery approved, with debts of R$ 270 million.
And the list continues to grow, another that entered into judicial recovery was the mining conglomerate Machado and Cruvinel, with debts of R$ 90 million.
Examples begin to spread across Brazil. Partner of the NDN office, specialized in judicial recovery, Tiago Dalvia confirms the high demand.
His view is that the rural producer is strangled by the expiration of subsidized credit operations, launched by the government during the pandemic.
“Usually, financial operations in the agro sector expire between August and October to reconcile with the production cycle. With the fall of the harvest, with the maturity of credit operations, there was an increase in inquiries in this segment”, he reports.
Rural producer Adair Cristóvão da Rocha, from Campo Verde, filed for judicial recovery after accumulating R$ 31 million in debts with banks, input suppliers and employees. The request was granted last month.
Rocha started working on an area of 300 hectares, but soon expanded his crops and, in 2014, he was already planting soybeans on around 1,000 hectares.
The following year, a severe drought led to an almost total loss of production. Instead of retreating, Rocha decided to invest more in farming.
The cultivation area was expanded to 5,000 hectares, which required new investments in machinery and inputs for the soil.
In the following years, however, his financial situation only worsened.
In the request, the producer cited the impact of the pandemic on the supply of credit by financial institutions and the rise in the dollar, which made inputs more expensive.
Rocha stated that he was fully convinced of its capacity and operational and financial viability, with the rehiring of employees and even with the potential for future expansion of its activities.
A payment plan has already been prepared and is still awaiting approval by the Judiciary.
To the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, he said that bankruptcy has paved an important path for his business.
“There are several families that depend on our activity, and keeping these jobs really leaves us with hope and expectation of better days.” said Rocha.
According to him, the judicial recovery guaranteed breath to build a payment plan.
“We want to honor our commitments and honor our name. We live in a country with a complex economic situation, and conditions are not always favorable, as in our case. The recovery paved the way for us to survive in this scenario and continue working in agribusiness.” she completed.
Lawyer Marco Aurélio Mestre Medeiros, a partner at Mestre Medeiros Advogados Associados, who filed Rocha's lawsuit, said that his offices had increased demands.
“The judicial reorganization institute began to be seen in fact as a restructuring tool by the rural producer.”
Sources: Jornal O Estado de S. Paulo
