São Paulo – Three Arab countries presented great growth in imports of Brazilian agribusiness products in January this year as against January 2010. In the first month of this year, Algeria imported 126.7% more, while Morocco presented growth of 108% and Egypt, 83.6%.
In general, the Arab nations imported 10.5% more Brazilian agribusiness products in a comparison between the first month of 2010 and January 2011. In values, exports from Brazil to the region in the period rose from US$ 499.5 million to US$ 552 million. Total exports to the country in the months studied grew 26.3%. In the period, China, the main importer of Brazilian agribusiness products, increased purchases by 94.3%.
With US$ 5.1 billion exported in January this year, the first month of 2011 posted the best performance for months of January since 1989, when the series started being recorded. The trade balance result for the agribusiness sector grew US$ 800 million, as against January 2010, reaching US$ 3.9 billion. In the last 12 months, shipments totalled US$ 77.5 billion, a record value for the period.
The soy complex, followed by coffee and raw chicken posted the greatest growth. Revenues with soy in grain rose 136.3% and the volume shipped rose 123.7%. The results for oil were even more significant. The volume exported rose 377.8% and the value was 531% greater than that obtained in January 2010. In total exports of the soy complex totalled US$ 598.6 million, growth of 89.3% in the period.
Shipments of coffee were 65.9% greater than the value obtained in the first month of last year, reaching US$ 595.4 million. The volume of coffee shipped in grain rose 23.9% (155,000 tonnes). In the case of raw chicken, shipments totalled US$ 505 million, 51.4% more than in January 2010. The volume exported rose 28%, to 268,000 tonnes sold.
*Translated by Mark Ament
