São Paulo – The first four months of 2011 were the best of the last few years for Brazilian cooperatives when it comes to exports, and the Arab countries were among the main reasons for the performance. According to the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, from January to April this year, foreign sales by cooperatives reached US$ 1.681 billion, an increase of 34.4% over the same period of last year. This is the best result for the sector since 2005, when records started being kept.
Arab countries Emirates and Algeria ranked among the five leading targets during the period. The Emirates imported the equivalent of US$ 106.4 million and ranked fourth, at 6.3% of total sales, followed by Algeria, which ranked fifth at 6.2% and US$ 104.9 million in imports. The bulk of products shipped by cooperatives, however, were shipped to Germany. The European country purchased the equivalent of US$ 195.6 million and accounted for 11.6% of the total. The United States imported US$ 164.8 million (9.8% of the total), followed by China (US$ 129.3 million, 7.7% of the total). Other major buyers included Russia (5.6%), the Netherlands (4.7%), Japan (4.6%), Nigeria (3.1%), Saudi Arabia (2.8%), Belgium (2.6%) and Bangladesh (2.5%).
The markets manager at the Brazilian Cooperatives Organization (OCB, in the Portuguese acronym), Gregory Honczar, claims that the growth – and the record – in sector exports is mainly driven by an initiative of the Brazilian government. “There is a tendency of increasing the range of products exported and of target markets beyond the traditional ones, which are the United States and the European Union,” he says. According to the OCB, which represents 6,652 cooperatives, the US$ 106.4 million worth of products shipped to the Emirates from January to April represent a 130% increase compared with the same period of last year. According to Honczar, this is a sample of the diversification of Brazilian trade partners. He adds that market-related factors and efficiency on the part of cooperatives have also contributed for exports to rise.
Coffee beans topped the list of most exported products. From January until June, sales of the commodity reached US$ 256.6 million (15.3% of the total). Coffee was followed by wheat (12.4% of the total), refined sugar (12.2%), raw sugar (10.7%), soy bean (10.4%), soy chaff (9.3%), chicken cuts (8.9%), ethanol (6.6%) and frozen pork (2.9%).
Although coffee is the leading export product for cooperatives, it is not the one most shipped to Arab countries. According to the OCB, of the total imported by the Emirates, 75% consisted of refined sugar, 13% of raw sugar, and 7.5% of meats. In the case of Algeria, the most purchased product from Brazilian cooperatives was wheat, which accounted for 80% of the total. To Honczar, however, wheat sales were an exception, because Brazil usually imports wheat from Argentina. Saudi Arabia, which imported US$ 47.6 million in the first four months of the year, purchased sugar from Brazilian cooperatives (99.9% of the total). Saudi Arabia, Algeria and the Emirates combined accounted for 15.3% (or US$ 257 million) of exports by Brazilian cooperatives from January to April.
Cooperatives in the state of Paraná exported the most during the period: US$ 588.2 million, or 35% of the total. Those based in the state of São Paulo exported the equivalent of US$ 483.5 million(28.8%), followed by Minas Gerais (15.1%), Rio Grande do Sul (9,6%), Santa Catarina (5.2%), Mato Grosso (2.4%), Mato Grosso do Sul (1.2%), Goiás (1%) and Tocantins (0.6%).
Imports
Imports made by cooperatives also grew, although at a lower rate than exports. According to the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, in the first four months this year, cooperatives imported the equivalent of US$ 83.1 million, 2.3% more than in the same period of 2010, when these organizations imported the equivalent of US$ 81.2 million. Potassium chloride, monoammonium phosphate and textile yarn machinery were the main products imported. Germany and the United States were the leading suppliers of products to Brazilian cooperatives during the period.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
