Brasília – The appreciation of several imported goods and China’s lockdown measures impacted the Brazilian trade balance in May. Last month, the country exported USD 4.943 billion more than it imported. This figure is the lowest for the month since 2019, when the result was USD 4.369 billion.
Last month Brazil sold USD 29.648 worth of goods billion abroad and bought US$ 24.704 billion. Both exports and imports set a record for the month of May since the beginning of the historical series in 1989. However, imports grew more than exports.
In May, the value of sales abroad rose 8% from May last year. The value of imports increased 33.5% in the same comparison.
The appreciation of commodities (primary goods with an international quotation) contributed to the record exports but started to increase the value of imports. This is because the price of various goods that Brazil imports rose, even as the quantity purchased from abroad fell.
Last month, the volume of imported goods rose only 0.1%, while prices increased 35.7% on average compared to the same month last year. The products with the biggest impact on the trade balance were refined fuels, fertilizers, coal, crude oil, wheat, and rye. Even with the quantity purchased falling for most of these products, the value imported rose, due to the increased cost of these items.
In exports, the quantity sold fell 7.9%, pressured by the drop in shipments of grains and ores to China, which has some regions under lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Average prices rose 21.9%.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
