São Paulo – Agribusiness exports from Brazil to the Arab nations generated US$ 3.673 billion from January to July this year, an increase of 15.8% over the same period last year, according to figures supplied by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply. In the same comparison, total foreign trade revenues dropped 9.5%.
“This year, with prices lower on the average, this growth is surprising,” said the director of the Agribusiness International Promotion Department, an organisation connected to the Ministry of Agriculture, Eduardo Sampaio Marques.
The reduction in exports of chicken and beef, which are the main items in the basket, were compensated by the expansion of sales of other products, especially sugar and soy. Shipments of sugar to the Arab world generated US$ 1.21 billion, 49% more than in the first seven months of 2008.
According to Marques, the international market for the commodity was greatly affected by demand in India, which from one year to another changed from being a great exporter to a great importer. Just to give an idea, among the main destinations for Brazilian sugar in 2009, according to him, Russia appears in the first place, followed by India and the United Arab Emirates.
As the Asian country is no longer an exporter, Brazil has been granted more space in global markets. The lower offer has made sugar one of the few products that had no depreciation this year.
In the case of soy grain exports, shipments to the Arab nations totalled US$ 152 million, an increase of 187% over the period from January to July 2008. According to Marques, Brazil sold much soy in the first half when the price of soy was higher, and there was even anticipation of shipments by some companies to make use of the moment.
The Arab countries, mainly Saudi Arabia, have bought raw material from Brazil for production of animal feed, geared to feeding local herds. This, in Marques’ opinion, explains the growth of exports of soy and also of maize.
Maize boosted sales of the “grain” sector from US$ 83 million in the first seven months of 2008 to US$ 133 million in the same period this year. There was also influence of rice exports, but at a lower rate.
Among the 10 main agribusiness products exported to the Arabs, there was only reduction in the sales of raw meats and soy oil. In both cases, according to Marques, this is not a particularity of trade with the region, but something that was repeated on a global scale. In the area of meats, there has been a reduction in global demand, and, in the case of oil, what fell was the Brazilian offer.
Apart from sugar, soy in grain and other grain, exports of soy chaff, coffee, industrialized meats, tobacco and live animals to the region also rose.
There was expansion in sales to the five main markets in the region: Saudi Arabia (18.6%), the Emirates (29.6%), Egypt (10.2%), Algeria (36.4%) and Morocco (25.7%). There was expressive growth to destinations like Yemen (50.5%), Lebanon (26.2%), Iraq (81.7%), Mauritania (41%) and Sudan (140%), as well as Djibouti and Somalia.
*Translated by Mark Ament
