São Paulo – Brazilian agribusiness sales to the Middle East grew 40.1% in February as against the same month in 2009. The region was the highlight in foreign sales in the month, according to figures disclosed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply. Among the countries that bought products, one Arab nation stood out: Morocco, in North Africa, to which agricultural and livestock product exports grew 81.5%.
In general, exports rose 20.6% in February as against the same month last year, reaching US$ 4.4 billion. Apart from the Middle East, other prominent regions were Eastern Europe, where sales rose 76.3%, and Asia, expansion of 32.8%. In terms of countries, the ones that stood out most were Russia (86.7%), India (153.5%), Iran (185%), Thailand (375.6%) and China (37.4%), as well as Morocco.
The products that contributed most to the growth of Brazilian agribusiness exports were chicken, beef, sugar, soy chaff and forestry products. “The month of February marked the start of recovery of agribusiness foreign sales, with most groups of products presenting positive rates of growth, after several months of reduction and 10% reaction in export value in 2009,” explained the Agribusiness International Promotion director at the ministry, Eduardo Sampaio.
Raw beef sales grew 42.6%, from US$ 186 million to US$ 265 million. The volume of soy chaff exported rose 39%. The sugar and alcohol complex grew 47.8% in export revenues as against the same month in 2009, totalling US$ 729 million.
*Translated by Mark Ament
