São Paulo – Brazilian sales to the Arab world rose 10.72% in volume in September as against the same month in 2012, to reach 4.3 million tonnes, according to figures disclosed by the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade and compiled by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce. In September last year, shipments to the country totalled 3.9 million tonnes. The expansion was 424,000 tonnes of products.
“We have increased the volumes exported. This means that the Brazilian offer of products is supplying the Arab demand,” stated the CEO at the Arab Brazilian Chamber, Michel Alaby. Revenues with shipments, however, dropped 3.76%, from US$ 1.36 billion in September of 2012 to US$ 1.31 billion last month. “There was price depreciation,” said Alaby.
The products that weighed heaviest in the shipments from Brazil to the Arab market in September were ores. There was growth of 28% in exports of the product, with 2.3 million tonnes, almost half the total sold by the country to the region. There was also growth in the exports of grain, up 4.82%, to 958,000 tonnes. Sales of sugar, in turn, dropped 34.8%, to 544,000 tonnes, and those of meats, by 8.3%, to 132,000 tonnes.
Ores were among the only products in the export basket to present growth both in volume and in revenues. Shipments of Brazilian ores generated US$ 265 million in September, with growth of 55% over the same month last year. But sugar export revenues dropped 45.58% to US$ 232 million, those of meats, 17.24%, to US$ 285 million, and those of grains, 15.73%, to US$ 208 million.
In September, the Arab countries that imported most from Brazil were Oman, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Algeria. This ranking takes into consideration the volume. If the revenues generated are taken into account, the list is led by Saudi Arabia, followed by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Algeria.
In the accumulated result for the year, up to September, exports from Brazil to the Arab countries totalled US$10.1 billion, with a reduction of 5.18% over the same period in 2012. In volume, sales totalled 27.4 million tonnes and also dropped 5.42%.
Brazilian imports of Arab products dropped 1.91% from January to September over the same months in 2012 to US$ 8.4 billion. In volume, there was growth of 8.68%, to 11.9 million tonnes. In September alone, imports dropped 21.8% in volume, to 935,000 tonnes and 20.95% in values, to US$ 688 million. Brazil buys mainly oil and fertilizers from the Arab world.
*Translated by Mark Ament
