Alexandre Rocha*
alexandre.rocha@anba.com.br
São Paulo – Brazilian agribusiness exports to Arab countries yielded US$ 971.8 million in the first quarter of 2007, a 34.5% increase compared with the same period last year. In terms of volume, 1.65 million tonnes of products were shipped, a 17.4% increase over the first three months of 2006. The data were provided by the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture.
The main products shipped to the region were sugar, meats, the soy complex (grain, chaff and oil), and forestry products. "Despite the fact that the dollar appreciated even further against the real (the Brazilian currency) in the first quarter of 2007, we noticed, from the increase in revenues and in the volume shipped, that the Arab world has established itself as a major market for Brazilian agribusiness," said the president at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Antonio Sarkis Jr.
Other commodities also stand out in the export basket for the first three months of 2007, such as coffee, dairy products and fruit juices. In the case of Saudi Arabia, for instance, which is the main Arab importer of Brazilian commodities, juices are the sixth item in the export basket, with sales worth US$ 1.75 million. To Kuwait, fruit juices ranked second in the exports list, with shipments totalling more than US$ 1 million.
Dairy products rank sixth among Brazilian exports to Egypt, which is the second largest destination for Brazilian agribusiness in the region, with sales of over US$ 2 million. Dairy products are the fourth most exported commodity to Morocco (US$ 1.3 million), the fifth to Lebanon (US$ 1.5 million) and the third to Algeria (US$ 5.3 million).
Algeria used to be the foremost destination for Brazilian dairy products in the world, but exports to the country decreased after an agreement between Algeria and the European Union became effective, in the second half of 2005. Now, sales are on the rise again. "We are resuming exports, although in small amounts, but there are good perspectives for the future," Sarkis said.
The main destinations in the first quarter of 2007 were Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Lebanon, Syria, Algeria, Kuwait, Iraq, and Yemen. Other highlights in the export basket were tobacco, fibres and textile products, leather, cereals, flours and preparations.
Once again, agribusiness exports to the Arab world increased more than total foreign sales for the sector, which grew by 20% in the first quarter to reach US$ 11.7 billion. The segment accounted for 64.4% of total Brazilian exports to the region in the period.
In March alone, agribusiness sales to the Arabs yielded US$ 356.3 million, a 27.8% increase compared with the same month last year. The main destinations in the period were Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Lebanon, Kuwait, Yemen, Syria, Algeria, and Mauritania.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
