São Paulo – After ending 2016 on a down note, exports from Brazil to Arab countries picked up steam as 2017 began. January saw revenue go up 13.5% year-on-year to USD 936.4 million, according to data from the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services compiled by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.
Imports of Brazilian goods by the leading Arab buyers – Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Algeria, Oman and Morocco – increased in January. Revenue from foreign sales of Brazil’s top-selling products to the Middle East and North Africa – sugar, meats and ores also went up.
“Prices were a factor when it comes to sugar, meats and ores,” Arab Chamber CEO Michel Alaby told ANBA. Those three products sold for higher prices last month than they did in January 2016, boosting revenue from their sales. The reason was a hike in international prices.
With sugar, export revenue was up 121%, while shipped volume grew by 43%. Meats (beef and poultry), the second-best selling product category, revenue climbed by 10%, but volume dropped by 3.5%. Revenue from ore sales soared by 163%, with volume going up by 95%.
Out of the top-five Arab buyers, Saudi Arabia stepped up its meat imports, and the UAE purchased larger quantities of sugar and ore. Sugar exports saw a near-threefold increase to Algeria, and a six-fold increase to Morocco.
Oman’s increase in imports was driven by ore and ore concentrates, going from USD 7.5 million in January 2016 to USD 47.6 million in January 2017. Brazil’s mining company Vale runs a pelletizing plant in the country, and it relies on raw material imported from Brazil.
Brazilian exports in January reached USD 188.9 million to Saudi Arabia; USD 183.5 million to the United Arab Emirates; USD 136.2 million to Algeria; USD 71.8 million to Oman; and USD 66.4 million to Morocco. Total revenue from exports to Arab countries hit USD 332.4 million for sugar, USD 290 million for meats and USD 116.8 million from ores.
Imports
Brazil’s imports from Arab countries went up as well, by 138%, from USD 276.7 million in January 2016 to USD 658.7 million in January 2017. The leading Arab exporters were Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Kuwait and Qatar, in that order. The near entirety of sales consisted of oil, oil products and fertilizers.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
