São Paulo – Brazilian exports totaled USD 4.91 billion last week, an increase of 1% over the previous week, as per the daily average. Imports totaled USD 3.238 billion, a decline of 6.2% in the same comparison. It resulted in a surplus of USD 1.672 billion in the week. The data was released this Monday (19) by the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services (MDIC).
Foreign sales of basic goods and semi-finished products went up. In both groups, the highlights were the sales of crude oil, iron ore, poultry, beef, coffee, cattle, iron and steel semi-finished products, ferro-alloys, raw sugar, copper cathodes, wood chips and sawn timber.
However, exports of finished products fell, a performance impacted by fuel oils, aluminum oxides and hydroxides, frozen orange juice, polymers, cast iron pipes and gasoline.
On the other hand, there was a decline in imports of electronics, mechanical equipment, organic and inorganic chemicals, steel products, plastics and products, auto and auto parts.
Year-to-date, Brazilian exports totaled USD 11.717 billion, up 11.9%, as per the daily average, in comparison to the same month of 2017. Imports totaled USD 8.069 billion, up 19.5% in the same comparison. March, until the third week, has a surplus of USD 3.647 billion (USD 1.139),.=
In the year, foreign sales reached USD 45.997 billion, while imports reached USD 34.678, which resulted in a surplus of USD 11.319 billion.
Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
