São Paulo – In 2015, Brazil posted a USD 19.681 billion trade surplus, reversing the USD 4.054 billion deficit from 2014. In 2013 and 2012, there were surpluses of USD 2.286 billion and USD 19.395 billion, respectively. The last time the country had a higher surplus than last year’s was in 2011, at USD 29.794 billion. But although there was a surplus in 2015, both exports and imports declined relative to 2014. According to numbers released this Monday (04) by the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, imports fell at a higher rate.
In 2015, exports from Brazil reached USD 191.134 billion, down 14.1% from 2014. Imports reached USD 171.453 billion, down 24.3%. Export numbers dropped across all three product categories. Basic goods exports were down 19.5% from 2014 to USD 87.188 billion. Semi-finished goods declined 7.9% to USD 26.463 billion, with finished goods sliding 8.2% to USD 72.791 billion in 2015.
Basic goods whose exports dropped the most include iron ore, down 44.8%, crude oil, down 27.1%, beef (-18.5%) and pork (-18.2%). Semi-finished goods exports dropped the most for cast iron (-24.2%), leathers and hides (-22.2%), raw sugar (-19.8%) and ferroalloys (-16.7%). Declining foreign sales of finished goods were driven by fuel oils, down 61.8%, land levelers (-30.1%), motors and generators (-18.3%) and pumps and compressors (-12.4%).
In 2015, Brazilian exports to all destinations declined, having dropped the least to the Middle East, by 3.3%, according to the Ministry of Development’s data. Sales to the region declined for iron ore, maize, sugar, cast iron pipes and livestock. Last year, the top buyers of Brazilian products were China, the United States, Argentina, the Netherlands and Germany.
Imports
Imports plummeted, with fuels and lubricants purchases losing 44.3% over 2014 numbers. Capital goods imports slid 20.2%, as did raw materials and intermediate goods. Consumer goods imports fell 19.6%. Brazil also imported less from all economic blocs.
Imports from the Middle East dropped 32.3%, mostly due to oil, urea, kerosene, fuel oils, plastic polymers and potassium chloride. Brazil’s leading suppliers in 2015 were China, the United States, Germany, Argentina and South Korea.
December
In the last month of the year, Brazil exported USD 16.783 billion worth of goods, averaging USD 762.9 million a day. The average is 4% weaker than in December 2014. In the penultimate week of December, Brazil exported an oil rig worth USD 818 million.
Also in December 2015, imports averaged USD 479.2 million a day, down 38.7% from December 2014. Total imports stood at USD 10.543 billion. A USD 6.24 billion trade surplus was recorded in December.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
