Isaura Daniel
São Paulo – Brazilian export to the Middle East had doubled in the month of August. They rose 95% as against the same period last year. The North of Africa also showed 16% growth as a destination for Brazilian products.
The performance of sales to the Middle East rose above the average of total Brazilian foreign trade, which reached 35% in the period. The region was the one that most grew as a destination for Brazilian export.
In the report published yesterday (01), the Development Industry and Foreign Trade Ministry pointed out the increase in sales of domestic products to Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, markets considered less traditional than the United States and Europe in the Brazilian trade basket.
Export to Yemen rose 120%, to the Emirates 114%, and to Saudi Arabia 107%. The Yemenites imported US$ 11.2 million from Brazil last month, the Emiratis US$ 73.6 million, and the Saudis US$ 116.8 million. Up to the month of July, sales to Saudi Arabia, a large consumer of Brazilian poultry, had totalled US$ 411 million.
The figures show that Brazil is managing to maintain and even exceed the growth percentages the country is having in trade with the Arab countries. In the month of July, sales to the Middle East rose 41% and to Africa 44%. "There is space to maintain this rhythm of growth," stated the superintendent of the Foreign Trade Association of Brazil (Abracex), Benedito de Sanctis Pires de Almeida.
Brazilian export as a whole has also grown surprisingly, confirming the expectations of those who said that foreign trade should drop due to domestic consumption. In the month of August alone, US$ 9 billion was generated with export. The surplus totalled US$ 3.3 billion. "It seems that companies are managing to maintain the export increase despite the improvement in domestic demand," stated Almeida.
Accumulated total sales in the first eight months of the year have already reached US$ 61.3 billion, a record for the period. The government target is now to reach US$ 90 billion by the end of the year. The surplus has reached US$ 21.9 billion, and should end the year at US$ 30 billion, according to official estimates.
Country businessmen are now focussing on maintaining this export increase as the industrial capacity is almost at its limit. According to the Abracex superintendent, Brazilian factories are using an average of 90% of their productive capacity. "We have had to invest in installed capacity so as to accompany the demand," stated Almeida.
Small industries in the country are in a slightly more comfortable position, currently operating at 65% of their capacity. That, according to the Abracex superintendent, may open space for them to have further participation in Brazilian export. Last year, 117 large companies answered to 58% of country international sales.
Import
The increase in Brazilian import, also registered in the trade balance in the month of August, shows that the domestic industry is expanding its productive capacity. Purchases of material from outside the country have risen 28.1% from January to August, considering the daily average, and 43% if compared to August 2003.
The Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE) announced on Tuesday (31) that the Brazilian Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a direct reflection of country industrial production, has risen 4.2% in the first six months of this year.
Brazil imported US$ 39.4 billion in the first eight months of this year, and US$ 5.6 billion in August. "With the return to production, there is greater demand for raw material," stated Almeida. In August import, when compared to the same period in 2003, the largest growth potential was registered in areas such as fuel and lubricants, raw material and intermediary products, capital goods, and consumer goods. The largest supplier was the European Union.
The export that most grew was that of semi-manufactured iron and steel goods, flat laminates, petrol, pork, and soy in grain. Soy, however, was the individual product that brought the largest foreign trade revenues: US$ 581 million. The United States led the list as the main destination for domestic products.
