São Paulo – Revenues from Brazilian exports to the Arab world reached US$ 5.248 billion in the first five months of the year a 39.13% increase over the same period of last year, according to figures supplied by the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade and compiled by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce. The figures do not include Libya, a conflicted country.
The increase was higher than that of overall Brazilian exports – which grew by 31.24% during the same period, according to the Ministry – and took place in spite of the political crisis that befell the Middle Eastern and North African countries over the last few months.
There was an increase in shipments of the main groups of products shipped to the region, such as meats, especially poultry, sugar, iron ore, grain, especially wheat and maize, vegetable oils, aircraft and their parts, capital goods, coffee, soy and chemicals, especially calcined alumina.
“In Saudi Arabia, for instance, I noticed that bovine meat is too expensive, so it is being replaced by poultry, which is cheaper,” said the CEO of the Arab Brazilian Chamber, Michel Alaby, who travelled to the Arab country last week, referring to the increase in poultry sales to a market of which Brazil already retains a strong share.
As for wheat, which had a significant weight in Brazilian exports to the Arabs thus far, Alaby underscored that there has been an international scarcity of the product. Besides, the dynamics of the Brazilian domestic market have made exporting more attractive for a share of local producers. This phenomenon, however, is not a constant, because Brazil is not self-sufficient in wheat and needs to import large volumes in order to meet the domestic demand.
He ascribes the increase in food sales to the storage that takes place every year before the Ramadan, the month of the Islamic calendar in which followers of the religion fast during the day, but celebrate with lots of food during the evening.
Besides, given the fluctuating commodities prices, Alaby believes that Arab governments are increasing their food imports to stock up in order to regulate the market. Countries such as Algeria, for instance, have even lifted the import tax on items such as sugar, wheat and vegetable oils to try and control the price hike.
It is worth noting that the Arab world as a whole is highly dependent on food imports, and that the high cost of staple foods was one of the factors that led to the uprisings in the region this year.
Given these seasonal factors, the ups and downs of the international market and the current political circumstances, Alaby claimed that there are no guarantees that the growth of Brazilian exports will remain at the same level until the end of the year.
Markets
The main targets of Brazilian products in the region from January to May wee Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Morocco, Bahrain, Tunisia, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. Sales to Algeria, Oman, Sudan and Tunisia grew above the average.
The rates of increase in exports to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt and Kuwait remained close to the average. There was growth in shipments to Djibouti, the Emirates, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco and Mauritania. To the Comoro Island, Yemen, Jordan, Syria and Somalia, the rate of growth in exports declined.
On the other hand, Brazilian imports of products from the Arab countries reached US$ 3.385 billion, a 33% growth compared with the first five months of 2010, Libya not included. Brazil recorded a surplus of US$ 1.863 billion in bilateral trade with the region, 52.5% more than in the same period of last year.
There was growth in shipments of the main groups of imported products, such as oil and derivatives, fertilisers, inputs for the fertiliser industry, inorganic chemicals and plastics.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
