Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for waiting. At this time, we would like to welcome everyone to SLC Agrícola first quarter of 2019 earnings conference call. Today we have with us Mr. Aurélio Pavinato, CEO, and Mr. Ivo Marcon Brum, CFO and Investor Relations Officer. We would like to inform you this event is being recorded, and all participants will be in listen-only mode during the company's presentation. After the conference remarks are completed, there will be a question-and-answer session. At that time, further instructions will be given. Should any participant need assistance during this call, please press star zero to reach the operator. Also, today's live webcast, both audio and slideshow, may be accessed through SLC Agrícola website at www.slcagricola.com.br in the Investor Relations section by clicking on the banner Webcast First Quarter of 2019.
The following presentation is also available to download on the webcast platform. The following information is available in thousands of Brazilian Real and IFRS, except when otherwise indicated. Before proceeding, let me mention that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs and assumptions of SLC Agrícola management and on information currently available to the company. They involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions because they relate to future events and therefore depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Investors should understand that general economic condition, industry conditions, and other operating factors could also affect the future results of the company and can cause results to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. Now I will turn the conference over to Mr. Aurélio Pavinato, CEO. Mr. Pavinato, you may proceed.
Good afternoon, and thank you for participating in our earnings call for the first quarter of 2019. We can go to slide three, where I will make a brief comment on the price outlook for our main products. On cotton, in a global supply/demand scenario for the 2018-2019 cycle, in which consumption should exceed supply by at least 5 million bales, according to the USDA. Cotton lint prices should find support based on a scenario of a continuation of the upward trend in the fiber consumption observed in the last five years. The trade dispute between China and the United States began in 2018, continued in the first quarter of 2019, which created opportunities for Brazilian cotton to expand its share in the Chinese market, leading the country to register the highest cotton exports in the first quarter of the last five years.
According to the USDA, China should reach in 2018/2019, the mark of 8 million bales of imports, which would represent the highest volume of the last five years. In the United States, the world's leading cotton exporter, the planting intentions report published by the USDA in March pointed to a contraction of 2% in planted area for the next crop year, which could limit lint production and provide support for international prices. We can now move on to slide four. Price of soybean, however, have been trading on lower levels as a reflex of the uncertainties related to the trade war and to the impacts of the African swine fever in China. The supply and demand scenario at the moment points to a comfortable position of global inventories.
However, in the U.S., for which planting already started for the new season, the USDA is forecasting a reduction in planted area of 5% against the previous year, which could limit the downside of prices in the medium term. Given that in the United States prices are seen as exceedingly low, there is a possibility that the reduction in planted area be higher than currently forecasted. In this case of corn, for which prices are presented on slide five, we have seen higher volatility in recent months. On the global scenario, according to the USDA, for the second straight year, consumption should exceed production. The impacts of the African swine fever on the global animal protein production chain could create opportunities for Brazil as well, which could increase local demand for the grains, giving a possible advance in meat exports to China. We can now move to slide seven.
From an operational performance standpoint, we continue to follow a trend of increases in yields, reaching new records and pursuing our objective of stretching the distance against the national yield average. On this slide, we present the soybean yield that was reached in the current crop, for which harvest was concluded, and how it compares to the initial forecast and also to the Brazilian average on this crop. We are also elevating our yield estimate for cotton and corn on slide eight, which are currently on the growing phase and presenting excellent potential. I will now pass the call over to the colleague Ivo Brum, CFO, who will comment on the financial results.
Good afternoon. We can now move to slide 10, where you present a summary of our income statement. In the first quarter of 2019, both net revenues and volume invoiced set records for the period, advancing 46% and 56%, respectively. The period highlight was the higher volume of the soybean invoiced, which was 72% higher than the first quarter in 2018. The significant increase in the invoiced volume reflect operating efficiency, gains in the planting and harvest operation, both of which were carried out earlier this year, enabling us to anticipate shipment and take advantage of the best period for the grain shipment. Adjusted EBITDA was BRL 225 million in the first quarter 2019, advancing 50% from the first quarter 2018, which adjusted EBITDA margin of 36%. Growth was mainly driven by the higher volume of the soybean invoiced compared to the year-ago period.
Despite the 46% growth in gross income from the crops invoiced in the quarter, consolidated net income was lower than in the first quarter 2018, basically due to the dynamics of the recognition of the biological assets. This was especially due to early maturation of the soybean crops than in the previous crop year, causing a relevant portion of the variation in the fair value to be recognized in December. Also due to the lower price adopted to determine variation in the fair value for the mark-to-market adjustment. Note also that since the mark-to-market adjustment in late March, the yield of soybean was increased, which means that the variation in the fair value of the soybean will be adjusted positively in the next quarter. You can now go to slide 11.
The net debt increased compared to the fourth quarter 2018 from BRL 943 million- BRL 1.2 billion, corresponding to 1.68x adjusted EBITDA in the last 12 months. The growth in the net debt adjustments reflected the higher working capital needs driven by the expansion in the planted area, especially for cotton, and the investment in the property, plant, and equipment, and the execution of the stock repurchase program. In accordance with the notice to the market to date April 30, the company is currently issuing agribusiness receivable certificate in accordance with CVM instruction. A transaction whose purpose is to lengthen the debt maturity profile at competitive cost. On slide 12 and slide 13, we present a summary of impacts on our figures from the adoption of the IFRS 16.
With the adoption of the norm, the company now recognize at present value leasing liabilities and the corresponding right of use for the whole period of existing leasing contracts. These contracts are treated as operational leases and not as financial leases. After being back to market, the right of use values are transferred monthly to production costs based on the respective fraction on each agreement, and also restated by the variation in the price of the soybean bag in the Brazilian Real, which is index used under leasing agreement. The liability movements occur upon effective payment of the lease, as well to upon period restatement based on the variation in the soybean bag price, plus adjustments for the present value. The impact of the adjustment to the present value are recognized as a financial income or expense.
It is worth mentioning that the movement in the asset cost of the production will not bring an impact on the EBITDA once they will still be considered as a cost and not depreciation and amortization. I will now hand it back over to Pavinato who will make some final comments.
Thank you, Ivo. We can now move to slide 15. As mentioned on the market outlook, we have at the moment a more challenging context for the next year. We have crossed such a scenario many times in the past with success due to the resilience that was built in our business. We deeply understand that the risks are variable, and over time, we have developed measures to mitigate them. Our geographic and crop diversification, rigorous control of costs, and consolidated hedging policy provide important competitive advantages. Our business today is much stronger to face risks than it was five years ago. When there is a reduction in prices, follows an adjustment also in production costs in order to maintain a margin for the producers. The best producers capture more margins.
Cycles are part of the agribusiness, and we have a conviction that the best competitive measure is the efficiency gap over the average. In this sense, we have been able to stretch our advantage with the use of technology and acceleration in our innovation initiatives, which is being reflected in our yields. Thank you, and we will now open the call for Q&A.
Ladies and gentlemen, we will now initiate the question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please dial star one. If at any point your question has been answered, you may remove your question from the queue by pressing the pound key. Thank you. This concludes today's presentation. You may disconnect your line at this time, and have a nice day.