Isaura Daniel*
São Paulo – Exports from Brazil to the Arab countries increased 29.65% in January this year compared with the same month in 2006. Revenue from sales rose from US$ 388.8 million, in January 2006, to US$ 504 million in January this year. This was the highest value recorded for exports to the region in the first month of the year since at least 1989, when the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade began keeping electronic records. This is also the highest growth percentage recorded in the month of January since 2001.
"There has been a steady increase in sales to the major importing countries," said the president of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Antonio Sarkis Jr. The largest importer of Brazilian products among the Arabs, Saudi Arabia increased its imports by 14.41% in January compared with the same month in 2006. The Saudis imported US$ 93 million in Brazilian goods. Egypt, the second largest buyer, imported 19.69% more, to spend US$ 89 million in January.
According to Sarkis, increased exports are also the result of actions carried out by the Arab Brazilian Chamber and by the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex), aimed at promoting closer commercial relations between Brazil and the Arab world. This year, for instance, the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce participated in the Khartoum International Fair, in Sudan, and among other actions, the organization received Arab businessmen who came to Brazil to attend trade shows such as Couromoda, for the shoe sector, and the International Dentistry Congress of São Paulo (Ciosp), for dentistry products.
The secretary-general at the Arab Brazilian Chamber, Michel Alaby, ascribes the increase to yet another factor: inventory restocking. On the 27th of last month, Arabs celebrated the New Year. In late December, Muslims had their pilgrimage to Mecca, the holy city of Islam. Due to these special dates, inventory was restocked in January. According to Alaby, the fact that weather is cooler in the Arab region at this time of year also boosts exports of food, which Brazil sells to the Arabs.
In January, the largest importers of Brazilian products, in terms of revenue, were Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which have already been mentioned, and the United Arab Emirates, Algeria and Morocco, in that order. The Emirates purchased US$ 72 million in goods; the Algerians bought US$ 33 million, and the Moroccans, US$ 24.3 million.
The countries that had the most increase in imports, percentage-wise, were Yemen, Mauritania, Tunisia, Algeria and Syria. Yemen imported 2.430% more than in the same month last year, at US$ 13.9 million, Mauritania imported 947% more, at US$ 10.3 million, Tunisia imported 248% more, at US$ 14.4 million, Algeria imported 205% more than last year, and Syria imported 154% more, at US$ 21 million.
Imports
Brazilian imports from the Arab world also increased in January, compared with the same month in 2006. Imports increased 15.72% to reach US$ 436 million. In January last year, imports amounted to US$ 376 million. Libya was the country whose exports to Brazil grew the most, from US$ 13.3 million to US$ 125.6 million, an 842% increase. The country that exported the most to the Brazilian market, in terms of revenue, was Algeria: US$ 185.5 million. Brazilian imports from Arab countries are comprised mainly of oil, which Algeria and Libya produce.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
