Hemp Today´s conference in Montevideo in November hosted the industry’s most active players in Latin America. 613 Partner’s delegation came back with the latest on legislative developments around the continent, innovative angles to monetizing hemp projects from the get-go, and a wide collection of exciting new partnerships prospects. A breakdown of what to look out for in Latin American hemp in 2020:
From Latin America to the world
-Colombian hemp projects are maturing at a fast pace. Orinoco Hemp presented its innovative approach to hemp, built around the plant’s value as a climate change solution. The company intends to build the first carbon-certified project in the world as is has advanced pre-development research to produce pellets and bio-fuel from hemp.
-Paraguay is pushing ahead strong with new legislation and government support to farm 50,000 hectares in the short term.
-Uruguay remains more focused on recreational and medical cultivation but intends to utilize its knowledge and investor base to develop the sector in 2020.
-Genetics remains one of the biggest challenges in the continent, as most stable hemp strains are yet to be tested in sub-tropical climates.
Around the globe
-The U.S. hemp industry exploded in 2019, causing some overstock in biomass and crude oil for farmers who jumped into production without tying up the sale ahead of time. Prices of hemp crude decreased significantly during the year and may have not yet bottomed.
-European companies are looking at the continent to expand operations and establish strategic partnerships. Local companies can certainly use their experience in breeding and processing.
-Building business models that look at the many industrial applications of hemp, and not just the short-term CBD oil craze, is the way to go to build sustainable, scalable business models