From the Newsroom*
São Paulo – The state of Rio Grande do Norte had an 8.5% increase in exports in the first two months of this year. Foreign sales reached US$ 72.4 million up to February, against US$ 66.7 million in the first two months last year. This information was disclosed by a spokesperson for the government of the state of Rio Grande do Norte.
The main product in the export basket was melon. The product generated US$ 18 million with foreign sales. Cashew nuts generated revenues of US$ 8.9 million and had as their main destinations the United States and Canada, traditional buyers of the product from Rio Grande do Norte. The increase was 50.4% over the same period last year.
Among the products most exported, another fruit, banana, was in the fifth position, with exports of US$ 5.1 million. In the same period of last year, the product generated US$ 4.3 million in exports. The growth was 16.8%.
One of the surprises in exports in the period was shrimp. After several flat years, the product has once again taken off, posting significant growth over the previous year. Expansion in the first two months of 2008 was 17.3% over the same two months in 2007, with US$ 5 million in sales.
The items that grew most, in percentage points, however, were blankets. Exports grew 387% in the first two months of 2008, reaching approximately US$ 2.1 million exported, against US$ 400,000 in the same months in 2007.
*Translated by Mark Ament
