São Paulo – The first week of August in Brazil ended on a USD 637 million surplus, the Ministry of Development, Industry and Services said this Monday (8). However, both exports and imports fell in comparison with both August 2015 and July 2016.
In the first week of the month, from the 1st to the 7th, exports averaged USD 687 million a day, down 6.8% from August 2015. Ministry data shows basic goods exports slid 27.4% to USD 253 million, primarily due to weaker sales of crude oil, maize, soy bran, soy beans, coffee beans, beef, and poultry.
Finished goods exports climbed 7.7% year-on-year to USD 288.2 million, driven by sales of cargo vehicles, refined sugar, aluminum oxides and hydroxides, flexible iron and steel pipes, pumps, compressors and their parts, and earthmoving machinery and devices. Semi-finished goods exports soared 27.8% to USD 132 million, driven by semi-finished gold, raw sugar, copper cathodes, wood pulp, semi-finished iron and steel, and leathers and hides.
Total exports also dropped in the first week of August from July of this year, by 11.7%. Basic goods sales exports from Brazil fell 24.4%, with finished goods sales dropping 7.8%. Semi-finished goods exports slid 15.6%.
In the first week of August, imports averaged USD 559.6 million a day, down 8.1% from a year ago. Imports declined the most for autos and auto parts, pharmaceuticals, mechanical equipment, optics and precision instruments, and plastic products. Imports were up 58% for fertilizers and 10.2% for customer electronics.
Year-to-date exports reached USD 110.020 billion, with imports at USD 81.154 billion, leading to a USD 28.886 billion surplus. The year-ago number was USD 5.341 billion.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
