São Paulo – Brazilian exports grossed US$ 15.5 billion in August, down 24.3% from a year ago. Imports, on the other hand, reached US$ 12.8 billion, down 33.7%. The resulting trade surplus was US$ 2.7 billion, up 132.2% from August 2014, the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade reported this Tuesday (1st).
According to the Ministry, sales weakened across the board for basic, semi-finished and finished goods. In the former group, soy bran, iron ore, tobacco, beef, oil, copper ore, pork, maize, coffee, soybean and poultry sales declined the most.
Manufactured goods that saw a sharp decline in sales include fuel oils, refined sugar, cargo vehicles, pharmaceuticals, tires, motors and generators, aluminum oxides and hydroxides, pumps and compressors, automobile engines and their parts, and automobiles and their parts. Conversely, sales went up for flexible iron or steel pipes, aircraft, ethanol, flat-rolled products, paper and plastic polymers.
Semi-finished goods exports declined for raw sugar, leathers and hides, raw aluminum, ferroalloys, semi-finished iron or steel products, and cast iron, and increased for raw soy oil, copper cathodes, wood pulp, sawed wood and semi-finished gold.
The Ministry added that foreign sales to the primary destinations slowed down. The leading buying countries in the month were China, the United States, Argentina, the Netherlands and Japan.
On the other hand, imports declined for fuels and lubricants, raw materials and intermediate goods, consumer goods and capital goods. Imports of products from the leading supplying countries dropped. Sales to Brazil in August were topped by China, the United States, Germany, Argentina and Spain.
From January to August, exports from Brazil fetched US$ 128.35 billion, 16.7% less than a year ago. Imports reached US$ 121.05 billion, down 21.3%. The ensuing surplus was US$ 7.3 billion, as against only US$ 205 million in the comparable period of 2014.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
