São Paulo – Brazil ran a USD 1.045 billion trade surplus in the first week of July, the Brazilian Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services reported this Monday (10). The surplus came as the result of USD 4.055 billion in exports and USD 3.010 billion in imports.
The ministry said exports averaged at USD 811 million a day last week, up 4.3% from the first week of July 2016. Basic goods exports climbed 13.1%, on the back of copper ore, maize, iron ore, beef, poultry and soybeans. Semi-finished goods exports were up 10.5%, driven by raw soya oil, semi-finished iron and steel products, pulp, ferroalloys and semi-finished gold products.
On the other hand, foreign sales of finished goods slid by 5.9% due to weaker exports of refined sugar, aluminum oxides and hydroxides, non-frozen orange juice, flat-rolled iron/steel products, buses and vehicles with more than 10 seats.
Compared with the daily average from June 2017, exports slid 13.9% with sales dropping across the board, by 17.1% for basic goods, 11.3% for semi-finished goods and 8.5% for finished goods.
The Ministry also said imports averaged USD 602 million a day in the first week of July, up 7.6% from a year ago, on the back of steel products, fuels and lubricants, plastic and plastic products, rubber and rubber products, autos and auto parts, and customer electronics.
Compared with June, imports climbed by 0.4%, driven by aircraft, iron and steel, mechanical equipment, plastic and plastic products, rubber and rubber products, and autos and auto parts.
Year-to-date through the first week of July, Brazil registered a USD 37.261 billion trade surplus, with exports reaching USD 111.765 billion and imports at USD 74.504 billion. A week ago, the Ministry revised up its whole-year surplus expectation from USD 55 billion to USD 60 billion.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum