Brasília – After a bearish month of April, Brazil’s trade balance began to show the effects of the coronavirus pandemic in May. A USD 4.548 billion trade surplus was registered, down 19.1% from May 2019 and the lowest for a May since 2015.
Exports fetched USD 17.940 billion, down 4.2% from May 2019 in daily average numbers, driven by industry. Extraction industry exports were down by 26.5% and USD 52.95 million year-on-year. Process industry exports were down 15.9% and USD 85.08 million. Agriculture and livestock exports were up 51.1% to USD 99.88 million.
Imports came out to USD 13.392 billion, down 1.6% year-on-year in daily averages, driven by crude petroleum oils, down 82.7%; raw fertilizers, down 62.6%, and copper ores and concentrates, down 46.1%.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
