Brasília – The excellent grain harvest and oil export performance caused Brazil’s trade balance to record its highest surplus for November, the Brazilian Central Bank (BC) informed this Thursday (1). Last month, the country exported USD 6.675 billion more than it imported. In November last year, the balance had recorded a deficit of USD 1.11 billion. This is the best result for the month since the beginning of the historical series in 1989.
From January to November 2022, the trade balance accumulates a surplus of USD 58.025 billion. This represents 0.7% more than in the same period last year. The accumulated balance, which until October was below that recorded in 2021, upturned and now broke a record for the first 11 months of the year.
Last month, Brazil sold USD 28.164 billion abroad and bought USD 21.489 billion. Based on the daily average, exports grew 30.5% compared to November last year. Imports decreased 5.5% in the same comparison.
In the case of exports, the record is due more to the increase in international prices of goods than the higher volume of shipments. In imports, the amount purchased fell by 4.9%, reflecting the slowdown in the economy, but average prices increased by 7.6%. The price hike was driven mainly by fertilizers, oil, mineral coal, and wheat.
Grains and oil
In the agricultural sector, the increase in shipments in November, caused by the greater grain harvest, mainly the second maize crop, weighed more on the positive export balance. In the mineral industry, which includes ores and oil, exports rose 51.6%, but average prices dropped 6.6%. Crude oil once again drove the increase in exports, with volumes up 123.5% and prices up 0.6%. This occurred because of the upturn resumption of production by Petrobras.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro