São Paulo – Last week, the Brazilian trade balance registered a surplus, the third one in October. Exports surpassed imports in USD 709 million, according to data made public this Monday (24) by the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services (MDIC). As a result, year-to-date ending last week, the trade surplus totals USD 38.05 billion.
Revenues from exports between October 17 and 21 stood at USD 3.35 billion with spending with imports totaling USD 2.64 billion. There was a decline of 7.5% in the daily average of shipments over the average of the first two weeks, but the drop in foreign purchases, in the same comparison, was ever sharper at 11.2%.
Exports declined in all categories of products: basic, semi-finished and finished. Foreign sales of semi-finished products tumbled 19.6%, driven down by raw sugar, wood pulp, semi-finished gold products and semi-finished iron and steel products.
Foreign sales of finished products also dropped, going down 6.8% due to weaker sales of aluminum oxides and hydroxides, cargo vehicles, polymers, auto parts, automotive engines and its parts. The sales of basic goods fell 3.3%, brought down by products such as iron ore, coffee beans, poultry, beef and maize grains.
Meanwhile, imports declined especially due to weaker sales of electronics, auto and auto parts, mechanical equipment, organic and inorganic chemicals, and plastics and products.
In the month, exports totaled USD 9.8 billion with imports at USD 8 billion. The surplus stands at USD 1.8 billion. Year-to-date, exports reached USD 149.2 billion, with imports at USD 111.1 billion.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani