From the Newsroom
São Paulo – Brazilian export to the Arab countries rose 56% in the first quarter of 2004, in comparison to the same period last year. In total, shipping to the region reached US$ 892.2 million, against the US$ 571 million registered in the first three months of 2003, according to information supplied by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (CCAB).
Sales rose to almost all countries in the region, except for the United Arab Emirates and Iraq. The highlight is still Egypt, which has become the main destination for Brazilian products among the Arab countries since the beginning of the year.
In total, export to the country in North Africa totalled the equivalent to US$ 170 million in the first quarter, against US$ 74.2 million registered in the same period in 2003, an increase of over 129%.
Lula
Egypt was one of the countries visited by president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in December 2003. To date, the main increases have been in the shipping of cattle beef and sugar. In the first case, the values rose from US$ 24 million in the first quarter of 2003 to US$ 55.7 million in the first three months of the year. In the beginning of the year, Egypt became the main importer of raw Brazilian cattle beef. Sugar purchases rose from US$ 4.4 million to US$ 23.2 million.
Except for the Emirates, all other countries visited by president Lula also showed increases in trade with Brazil in the period. Syria presented the largest growth in percentages. From January to March 2003, the country imported a total of US$ 5.5 million from Brazil. This year, up to March, import has already totalled US$ 41.6 million. The main item in the trade basket is now sugar (US$ 21 million), which was not even one of the 20 main items at the beginning of last year.
In the case of Libya, Brazilian product import rose from US$ 9.6 million to US$ 16.9 million, being iron ore the main product in the export basket. In the case of Lebanon, purchases rose from US$ 12 million to US$ 17.7 million in the period.
Wheat
Expressive increases were also registered in sales to Algeria, from S$ 25.2 million to US$ 63 million, Morocco, US$ 48.3 million to 95.9 million, and Tunisia, US$ 8.3 million to US$ 30.1 million. The main item in the trade basket in all three countries was wheat, a product that Brazil only started exporting at the end of last year. In all, the grain generated US$ 25.5 million in sales to Algeria in the first quarter, US$ 37.6 million in shipping to Morocco, and US$ 10.9 million in export to Tunisia.
One of the reasons for this increase in export to the Arab countries is diversification of the trade basket, as CCAB president Paulo Sérgio Atallah had already informed ANBA.
In the list of main buyers of Brazilian products, the country that follows Egypt is Saudi Arabia, a traditional commercial partner for Brazil in the region. Sales to the country totalled US$ 159.6 million, against US$ 140.3 million in the first three months of 2003.
The Emirates come in third place, with purchases of US$ 151.3 million, a small drop as against the first quarter last year, when the total was US$ 156.2 million. The greatest reduction occurred in oil shipping to the country (Brazil exports oil to the Arab countries), which dropped from US$ 94 million to US$ 24.7 million.
Below is the export performance to other Arab countries in the first quarter:
Bahrain: from US$ 17.9 million to US$ 26.4 million
Qatar: from US$ 7.1 million to US$ 12.6 million
Comoro Islands: from US$ 0,00 to US$ 286,300
Kuwait: from US$ 16.7 million to US$ 33.3 million
Djibouti: from US$ 170,400 to US$ 299,100
Yemen: from US$ 14.9 million to US$ 29.7 million
Iraq: from US$ 15.4 million to US$ 10.4 million
Jordan: from US$ 5.9 million to US$ 13.1 million
Mauritania: from US$ 3.4 million to US$ 5.4 million
Oman: from US$ 7.1 million to US$ 8.9 million
Somalia: from US$ 831,200 to US$ 3.7 million
Sudan: from US$ 1.278 million to US$ 1.298 million
