São Paulo – Brazilian exports of cashew and Brazil nuts to the Arab countries grew 40% from January to November last year as against the same period in 2009, boosted mainly by sales from the state of Ceará. Figures supplied by the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade show that exports of nuts to the Arab world generated US$ 12.8 million to Brazil in the first eleven months of 2010, against US$ 9.1 million in the same months in 2009.
"The Arab nations traditionally buy Brazilian nuts through Lebanon, which processes and exports them, under an own brand," explained the secretary general at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Michel Alaby. In fact, Lebanon was the Arab country that most bought nuts from Brazil from January to November 2010. Purchases totalled US$ 10.7 million, or 83% of the total. The Arab nations, according to Alaby, use nuts to make sweets and also to serve as savoury snacks. The nuts consumed in the region are good quality, he explained.
Apart from Lebanon, other Arab nations also bought nuts from Brazil, but at lower levels. They were: Kuwait, with purchases of US$ 1.03 million, Syria, with US$ 617,500, Jordan, with US$ 214,000, Tunisia, with US$ 202,000, Saudi Arabia, with US$ 82,000, and the Emirates, with US$ 16,000. The state of Ceará was the main supplier, answering to almost the totality, followed by the state of Rio Grande do Norte, which is the main producer of nuts.
The value exported to the Arab world, however, was small as against the total that Brazil exports in cashew and Brazil nuts. From January to November last year, country revenues with sales of the product on the foreign market reached US$ 222 million. Over half – approximately US$ 128 million – went to the United States. The second main destination for the nuts in the period was Canada, and the third, Lebanon. Cashew nuts are the nuts most exported by Brazil.
*Translated by Mark Ament
