São Paulo – Exports from Brazil to countries in the Middle East and North Africa were up in September this year as against the same period of 2011. There had been a decline in August. According to the trade balance results released this Monday (1st) by the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, in Brasília, daily average sales to the Middle East increased by 10.8%, and total exports in September amounted to US$ 1.192 billion. Daily average exports to Africa were up 6.9%.
Brazilian imports from the Middle East were also up, by 84.2%, and amounted to US$ 810 million. Still, year-to-date, exports to the Middle East were down 11.2%, and exports to Africa were down 0.4%. In turn, imports from the Middle East were up 30.7% in the first nine months of 2012. Imports from Africa were down 9.3% during the same period.
According to the Ministry, the increase in exports to the Middle East was mostly due to stronger sales of meats, grain, soy bran, inorganic chemicals, machinery and equipment, steel and iron works, and livestock.
The increase in sales to Africa was driven by sugar, grain, meat and ethanol. Also in September, Brazil exports were up 61% to Eastern Europe, 4.8% to the United States, and 2.3% to Latin America and the Caribbean. On the other hand, exports were down 18.2% to the Mercosur countries, 11.9% to Asia, and 4.9% to the European Union.
Overall, Brazilian exports amounted to US$ 19.999 billion in September, at a daily average of US$ 1.053 billion, down 5.1% from September 2011 and up 8.2% from August. Imports in September amounted to US$ 17.442 billion, at a daily average of US$ 918 million, down 4.6% from September 2011 and up 10.2% from August this year. In September, the surplus was US$ 2.557 billion, down 16.8% from September 2011.
According to the ministry, the only product category whose exports increased September-on-September was manufactured goods. The 2.9% increment was mostly due to sales of wood pulp manufacturing machinery, fuels, ethanol, electric engines and generators, non-frozen orange juice, flat-rolled iron and steel, cargo vehicles, refined sugar, and automobiles.
Exports of semi-manufactured goods were down 15.6% in September from the same month of last year. The worst performing products were semi-manufactured gold, raw soy oil, unprocessed aluminium, semi-manufactured iron and steel works, raw sugar (13.3%), ferroalloys (6.1%) and wood pulp (4.2%).
Exports of basic products were down 7.9% in September. The decline was mainly caused by sales of coffee bean, which were down 41.5%, iron ore, down 34.2%, and soy bean, down 23.5%. China remains the leading target of Brazilian exports, followed by the United States, Argentina, Netherlands and Japan.
Imports
Brazilian imports from Middle Eastern countries were also up in September. The 84.2% increase was a result of higher sales of crude oil, fertilizers, chemicals, machinery and equipment, steel and iron works, aircrafts and their parts, and aluminium and aluminium works. Imports were up 5.5% from the Mercosur and 1% from the European Union. However, imports were down 39.3% from Africa, 13.6% from Latin America and the Caribbean, 8% from the United States, 6.5% from Eastern Europe, and 2.9% from Asia. The five top exporting countries to Brazil in September were China, United States, Argentina, Germany, and South Korea.
Year-to-date as of late September, the Brazilian balance of trade performed worse than in the same period of 2011. According to the ministry, from January to September this year Brazil exported the equivalent of US$ 180.597 billion, down 4.9% from the same period of last year. Imports reached US$ 164.870 billion during the same period, down 1.2% from January to September 2011. The trade surplus during the period stood at US$ 15.727 billion, down 31.8% from the same period in 2011.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum