Brasília – Brazilian agribusiness set a new record as it exported US$ 85.76 billion in products over the last 12 months, from August 2010 to July this year. The result is 23.7% higher than in the preceding 12-month period, when the export value was US$ 69.36 billion. Imports increased by 34.2% in the comparison between the periods, from US$ 11.86 billion to US$ 15.91 billion.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, which disclosed the figures this Friday (12th), the agribusiness trade surplus grew by 21.5% during the period, a rate equivalent to US$ 12.35 billion, as it climbed from US$ 57.5 billion to US$ 69.85 billion.
The leading buyers of Brazilian agribusiness products are still China, with a 14.8% share, the Netherlands (7.4%), the United States (6.7%) and Russia (5.7%). The countries whose imports have increased the most percentage-wise were Algeria (104.7%), Spain (55.9%), Japan (49.3%) and Russia (40.9%).
In July, agribusiness exports reached US$ 8.47 billion, a 15.6% increase over the same month of 2010. Imports grew by 23.8% and reached US$ 1.41 billion, resulting in a US$ 7.06 billion surplus. The surplus is US$ 873.5 million higher than last year’s, representing an increase of 14.1%.
According to the ministry, the sectors that contributed the most to the positive results were sugar and ethanol, whose foreign sales grew by 53.1% in July, soy, whose sales grew by 31.6% and coffee, by 12.5%.
Of the three top-selling products during the month (sugar and ethanol, soy and meat), whose combined exports exceeded US$ 1 billion, meat was the only one whose sales dropped during the month, by 3.2%. Poultry exports have grown, but those of raw beef and pork, the latter of which was more affected by the Russian embargo on slaughterhouses based in the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná and Mato Grosso, have dropped by 2.5% and 17.4%, respectively.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
