São Paulo – The Brazilian trade balance ran a US$ 3.93 billion deficit in 2014, according to data released this Monday (5th) by the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade. It was the first yearly trade deficit since 2000, when exports fell short of imports by US$ 732 million.
Foreign sales from Brazil grossed US$ 225.1 billion last year, down 7% from 2013. Imports reached US$ 229 billion in 2014, down 4.4%. This goes to show that Brazil’s foreign trade volumes declined across the board.
Bilateral trade, i.e. the sum of exports and imports, stood at US$ 454.1 billion, down 5.7% from 2013. Only imports declined by a lower rate than exports, hence the deficit.
According to the Ministry, exports declined in all three product categories: finished goods (-13.7%), semi-finished goods (-4.8%) and basic goods (-3.1%). Conversely, imports declined for capital goods (-7.6%), consumer goods (-5.2%), raw materials and intermediate goods (-3.3%) and fuels and lubricants (-2.4%).
Exports increased solely to Eastern Europe, due to sales of meats, soybean, coffee bean, soy bran, carboxylic acids (organic chemicals), tractors and cast iron pipes; and to the United States, driven by semi-finished iron and steel products, aircraft engine parts and turbines, coffee, marble and granite items, land levelling machinery, soybean, flat-rolled steel, ferroalloys, wood, auto parts, leather, iron ore, cast iron pipes, raw sugar and fuel oils.
Imports increased only from Eastern Europe, especially potassium chloride, fertilizers, raw aluminium, fuel oils, sulphur, pharmaceuticals, ferroalloys and aluminium alloys; and from the Middle East, driven by petroleum, urea, fuel oils, plastic polymers, insecticides, fertilizers and heterocyclic compounds (organic chemicals).
The leading importers of products from Brazil in 2014 were, in this order, China, United States, Argentina, Holland and Japan. The leading suppliers of products to Brazil were China, United States, Argentina, Germany and Nigeria.
In December alone, exports from Brazil grossed close to US$ 17.5 billion, down 16% from December 2013. Imports amounted to nearly US$ 17.2 billion, down 5.5%. This led to a monthly surplus of US$ 293 million. The surplus, however, was unable to swing the yearly balance into surplus.
However, a shift into surplus is expected in 2015. The Brazilian Foreign Trade Association (AEB) forecasts a US$ 8.14 billion surplus. For its part, the Focus Bulletin, issued by the Central Bank based on a poll of financial institutions, sees a US$ 5 billion figure.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
