SUMMARY
Purpose: To understand the dynamics of the agricultural commodities market and predict a possible economic crisis, in addition to helping agricultural producers balance their product portfolio, diversifying their goods and reducing risks.Theoretical framework: Prices of agricultural commodities have changed significantly since 2002; although had been an increase in demand, where weather problems negatively affected supply, resulting in price increases. With the global financial crisis of 2008, there was a reduction in international credit and an increase in the US dollar against the Brazilian Real.Design/Methodology/Approach: Detrended Cross-Correlation Analysis and Detrended Fluctuation Analysis methods were used to understand the behavior of the cross correlations of the price of five Brazilian agribusiness commodities (cotton, sugar, coffee, corn and soybeans) for the previous periods, during and after the subprime crisis.Findings: Both methods showed a significant change in the behavior of the series in the period of crisis, when compared to their temporal neighborhoods.Research, Practical & Social Implications: It was found that the crisis changed the structure of the correlation of the returns on the commodities analyzed. This change implies alterations to a possible product portfolio in order to minimize risks.Originality/Value: The long-term nonlinear correlation behavior was calculated and analyzed on the temporal series for the return on the main agricultural commodities in the period of the subprime crisis and its temporal neighborhoods were calculated and analyzed, allowing several changes to be found in the product correlation structure, due to the crisis process.Keywords: Subprime Financial Crisis; Agricultural Commodities; Detrended Fluctuation Analysis; Detrended Cross-Correlation Analysis.