The Arab market answers to 35% of the Brazilian milk and dairy product foreign trade, but the market may grow. Sales to the Middle East and North Africa are helping the sector make its foreign trade balance positive. Bilateral trade, which is normally negative for Brazil, has already shown greater exports than imports in September.
Author: Mark Ament
In the first nine months of the year, shipping to Syria had already generated US$ 133 million, against US$ 66.6 million in the whole of last year. Syria, which was visited by Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the end of 2003, started buying more food, like sugar and coffee, so as to sell to Iraq, and vehicles, due to the economic embargo imposed recently by the United States.
Together with the Department of Trade Promotion of the Ministry of Foreign Relations, the Federation of Industries of the state of São Paulo, will put into practice, starting in November, a pilot project to train diplomats who are going to work at Brazilian embassies in other countries. They are going to visit industries to learn more about the reality of sectors with which the countries they are going to do business.
According to specialists heard by ANBA, this is an indicator of the expansion of economic activity, as companies are buying more to produce more. Up to the fourth week of October, the country has imported the equivalent to US$ 49.5 billion, more than in the whole of last year, when foreign purchases rose little.
The main product traded by Santa Cláudia on the foreign market is concentrated guaraná syrup, used in the production of soft drinks. The company participated in a fair in Algeria two years ago. Nowadays, exports represent less than 10% of company yearly revenues, but the plan is to increase this figure by between 20% and 25% in 2005.
Brazil Business Consulting (BBC), which represents wood producers and Brazilian construction companies, is going to try to open space for its clients on the Arab market. BBC has already been exporting wood to the United States for a year and a half and now wants to participate in tenders in the housing sector in the Middle Eastern and North African countries.
The Brazilian company closed a contract with Dubai Ports International, from the United Arab Emirates, and has already started works for construction of a new bulk oil and liquid terminal in the port of Djibouti. The enterprise should be completed by the end of next year.
The intention of creating a unified operation was announced last week by the Brazilian Mercantile & Futures Exchange and by the Rosario Futures Exchange. Together both countries harvest more soy than the United States, the largest world producer. However, international commodity prices are dictated by the Chicago Board of Trade. According to specialists, if the deal works out, it may bring benefits in terms of the price calculation and reduction of the farmer risk due to oscillation.
According to the Itamaraty, the Brazilian Foreign Office, the document sent includes the general lines of the text to be negotiated. Now the South American bloc is awaiting an answer from the Egyptian government. Specific matters, like the lists of products to be included in the agreement, for example, will be negotiated at a later date. As informed by ANBA last week, a delegation from the Arab country should visit Brazil in November so as to discuss the matter.
Established four years ago, AGS has Brazilian oil giant Petrobras as one of its main customers. The company developed a complete line of products for the control of oil and chemical product spills and also offers services for orientation about the importance of prevention of accidents that may harm the environment.
The objective of the multinational company is to reach at least 15% of this sector in the country, which had a turnover of around US$ 700 million in 2003 (in current figures), in two years. This is the first time the company decides to operate in the sector, and Brazil is going to serve as a test laboratory for the new operation. The brand is well known for its swimming accessories.
Among the destinations is the United Arab Emirates, a new market for the sector. Holland, however, is the main buyer and the southeastern Brazilian state of São Paulo is the largest producer in the country. The sector in which shipping has grown most is fresh flowers.
High Protection Company (HPC) has four car armouring factories around the world, two of them in Brazil. The company has offices in the United States, but it belongs to a Brazilian. The last unit was installed four months ago in Jordan, where 22 Brazilians work. Up to the end of 2005, the company intends to inaugurate another two branches: in Kuwait and in Mexico.
The 32nd Brazilian Congress of Travel Agents, which began today in Rio de Janeiro, will include a business roundtable between Brazilian companies and representatives of 18 countries. The meeting will go on up to Saturday.
