SAO PAULO (Reuters) - The volume of Banco Santander Brasil's (>> Banco Santander Brasil SA) rural credit loans rose to about 13 billion reais ($4 billion) last year as the Spanish bank's local unit grew its presence in the country's booming agribusiness sector, an executive said on Thursday.

Carlos Aguiar, head of agribusiness lending, said the growth catapulted the bank to the fifth position among the largest providers of this type of loan in Latin America's biggest economy. Santander's loans to farmers and agribusiness companies stood at 9 billion reais at the end of 2016.

(Reporting by Ana Mano)

Stocks treated in this article : Banco Santander, Banco Santander Brasil SA