São Paulo – Agribusiness exports to Africa and the Middle East, regions that comprise Arab countries, increased in April this year compared with the same month of last year. Sales to the African continent grew by 85.1% and reached US$ 593.6 million, and sales to the Middle East rose by 7.8% to reach US$ 545 million, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply.
In the Arab world, some countries have stood out as targets for Brazilian agriculture and livestock products in April. Such was the case with Algeria, whose imports increased by 148.3% to reach US$ 84 million, Egypt, whose purchases rose by 84.2% to reach US$ 113 million, and the Emirates, which imported 53.6% to reach US$ 78 million. Aside from these three, Saudi Arabia is also on the list of 20 leading importers in the sector during the period, but its imports only grew by 0.6%. Revenues from imports, however, were significant: US$ 173 million.
In general, agribusiness exports reached US$ 7.9 billion in April and grew by 24.4% over the same month of 2010. The main contributing sectors to the good performance were soy grain, oil and chaff, meats, sugar and ethanol, forestry products, coffee, grains, flours and concoctions. Revenues from coffee exports, for instance, grew by 66%, and soy grain, oil and chaff export revenues reached 35.7%.
From January until April, exports reached US$ 25.7 billion, a 23.6% increase over the first four months of last year. During the same period, soy oil, grain and chaff, sugar and ethanol, meats, forestry products, coffee and grains, flours and concoctions were the main contributing items to the increase of agribusiness exports.
In April, agribusiness imports increased by 47.6% to reach US$ 1.4 billion and a trade surplus of US$ 5.3 was recorded. From January to April, imports rose by 33.6% to reach US$ 5.4 billion and the trade surplus reached US$ 20.3 billion.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
