São Paulo – Brazil imported the equivalent to US$ 178.4 million in graphic arts products in the first half of this year. The volume is 41.4% greater than that registered in the same period of last year, according to information disclosed by the Brazilian Association of the Graphic Arts Industry (Abigraf), based on figures supplied by the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade.
The expressive growth of imports caused the trade balance result for the sector to become negative, with imports exceeding exports by US$ 27.14 million. Exports grew too, but below the expansion of imports, just 1.6%. The total exported by the graphic arts industry was US$ 151.3 million.
Editorial products, like books and magazines, were responsible for US$ 62.67 million of the imports, or 35% of the total. Other sectors that also contributed to the increase of purchases abroad were printed cards, with US$ 50.51 million, packages, with US$ 29.71 million and promotional products, US$ 21.99 million.
The main graphic arts product exported by Brazil, in turn, was packaging, with sales of US$ 49.20 million, or 32.5% of the total. Foreign sales of copybooks totalled US$ 36.46 million, and those of printed cards, US$ 24.84 million.
In a press statement, the Abigraf president, Alfried Plöger, stated that exports represented less than 2% of total graphic arts sales and therefore the performance does not significantly affect the final result of the industry. He attributed the shy export growth to exchange rates.
*Translated by Mark Ament
