São Paulo – Brazil’s balance of trade ran a US$ 132 million surplus in early April. According to results for the first two weeks of the month, released this Monday (13th) by the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, in the seven business days month-to-date through Sunday (12th), Brazil exported US$ 5.053 billion worth of products and imported US$ 4.921 billion.
Despite the surplus, foreign sales are still declining. In the first two weeks of April, exports from Brazil averaged at US$ 721.9 million per business days, down 26.8% from April of last year. Average daily imports were down 26.8% to US$ 703 million.
Foreign sales declined across all three product categories: revenues from basic goods exports were down 29.5% to US$ 374 million per business day, due to slower sales of soybean, iron ore, soy bran, pork, poultry and beef. Revenues from semi-finished goods exports were down 27.5% to US$ 77.8 million, driven by sales of raw sugar, semi-finished gold, leather and hides, ferroalloys, wood pulp and semi-finished iron and steel products.
Finished goods sales were down 22.8% in the first two weeks of April from the comparable period in April 2014, to US$ 249.8 million on average per business day. Sales dropped the most for refined sugar, autos and auto parts, motors and generators, aircraft, aluminum oxides and dioxides, pumps and compressors and land levelers.
Imports declined the most year-on-year in the first two weeks of April for fuels and lubricants (down 51.9%), fertilizers (-48.9%), organic and inorganic chemicals (-27.9%), optics and precision instruments (-22.5%) and plastics and plastic products (-21.5%).
Year-to-date in 2015, Brazil continues to run a trade deficit, at US$ 5.425 billion. In the comparable period of 2014, the deficit was US$ 6.027 billion.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
