São Paulo – Sales of Brazilian livestock and agriculture products were up 10% from January through May this year from the same period last year, to US$ 40.39 billion, according to information released this Thursday (13th) by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply. From January through May last year, export revenues stood at US$ 36.7 billion.
The highlight category was cereals, flours and preparations, which saw a US$ 1.6 billion increase in sales, mostly due to increased maize sales. In terms of value, soy bean, bran and oil fetched US$ 13.13 billion in export revenues, up 4% from the same period in 2012. Meats ranked second in export revenues, at US$ 6.86 billion, up 7.9% from last year.
According to information from the International Affairs secretary at the ministry, Célio Porto, the increase in sales to date was not solely a result of higher product prices. The volume of soy, beef and sugar exports was also up. Porto also cites maize and wood pulp, which performed well.
The leading agribusiness export target during the period was Asia, which imported the equivalent of US$ 16.85 billion, up 24.7%. The second leading export target was the European Union, whose imports were down 5.8% to US$ 8.69 billion.
In May alone, exports stood at US$ 10.1 billion, down 0.9% from May 2012. The leading category was soy bean, bran and oil, at US$ 4.9 billion in revenues, up 1% from May 2012. China was the leading importer, however most of Brazil’s trade partners acquired less than usual amounts, according to the ministry. Such was the case with Russia, Egypt, United Kingdom, Germany, Thailand, Spain and Japan, among others.
Agribusiness imports were up 1.4% from January through May to US$ 7.04 billion, resulting in a US$ 33.35 billion trade surplus on the Brazilian side during the period. In May, imports were down 1.2% to US$ 1.3 billion.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
