São Paulo – Brazil ran a USD 865 million trade surplus in the first two weeks of December, the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services said this Monday (12). Exports reached USD 4.817 billion, with imports amounting to USD 3.952 billion.
The result drove the year-to-date surplus to USD 44.142 billion, in line with the ministry’s expectation to end 2016 with a surplus in the USD 45 billion to USD 50 billion range. Exports reached USD 174.12 billion and imports stood at USD 129.978 billion through the second week of December, down 3.7% and 21.3% from the comparable period of 2015.
December exports averaged at USD 688.2 million per business day, down 9.8% from the year-ago period.
Basic goods exports slid by 16.9%, driven by weaker sales of maize, crude oil, soy bran, raw cotton, beef, and poultry; and finished goods exports fell by 11.1%, including pumps and compressors, electric motors and generators, aircraft and refined sugar.
Semi-finished product sales, on the other hand, were up 9.8%, underpinned by semi-finished gold, ferroalloys, timber, raw sugar, synthetic or artificial rubber and wood pulp.
Imports averaged at USD 564.6 million a day, up 17.8% from December 2015, and driven by cereals and milling products, customer electronics, autos and auto parts, rubber products, and pharmaceuticals.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
