São Paulo – The Brazilian trade balance registered a surplus of USD 1.2 billion in May’s first week and, therefore, the year-to-date surplus reached USD 14.4 billion, according to data released this Monday (9) by the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC).
In last week’s five business days, exports totaled USD 3.9 billion, with imports at USD 2.7 billion. Year-to-date, Brazil had earnings of USD 29.9 billion with sales abroad, and spent USD 45.5 billion in imported goods.
Exports didn’t go up last week, but declined less than imports. Exports had a daily average of USD 795.8 million, 5.1% below of last May’s average. The sales of finished products declined 10%, due to weaker sales of refined sugar, fuel oils, auto parts, cargo vehicles, aluminum oxides and hydroxides, vehicle engines, pneumatic components, pumps and compressors, iron and steel flat-rolled product and electrical engines and generators.
The sales average of basic goods declined 8.3% due to weaker sales of crude oil, coffee, tobacco, iron ore, poultry and salted meat. The only category that had an exports increase was the semi-finished products with 25.1%, due to stronger sales of raw aluminum, ferro-alloys, copper cathodes and wood pulp.
Imports daily average declined 21.6% last week over May 2015 and stood at USD 549.2 million. Products with a decline in imports were steel products, mechanical equipment, auto and auto parts, electronic devices and fuel and lubricants.
Year-to-date, the exports average declined 3.9%, with imports average registering a steeper decline with 31.6%. The foreign trade totals USD 105.365 billion in 2016 up until last week.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
