São Paulo – While Brazilian exports as a whole had 1.6% lower revenues in the first seven months of the year as against the same period last year, sales to the Arab market grew 0.29% in the same comparison. In July, individually, the performance of shipments to the region was also above the average. While the country’s exports as a whole have dropped 10%, those to the Arab world dropped 6%.
“We maintained growth, despite it not having been very significant,” said the CEO at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Michel Alaby, regarding the figures for the year. According to figures disclosed by the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Brazil had US$ 7.88 billion with shipments to the Arab market from January to July. In the same period in 2011, the value registered was US$ 7.85 billion. Last month, revenues were US$ 1.3 billion, against US$ 1.38 billion in July 2011.
According to Alaby, some of the main commodities shipped to the market, like meats, sugar and ores, were sold at lower prices, which pulled the performance for the year down. Apart from that, Ramadan, the month in which the Muslims fast during the day, began in June this year, and stocks in the region are generally already complete in the period, which results in lower imports.
In the accumulated result for the year, revenues with sugar exports to the Arabs dropped from US$ 2.1 billion to US$ 2.08 billion, and those of grain from US$ 638.8 million to US$ 555.8 million. There was slight growth in sales of ores, from US$ 1.48 billion to US$ 1.5 billion, due to the lower prices. Sales of meats advanced US$ 1.9 billion, to US$ 2.2 billion.
The main Arab importer of Brazilian goods from January to July was Saudi Arabia. The country, however, bought much less than last year, with sales dropping from US$ 2 billion to US$ 1.6 billion. The United Arab Emirates was the second main importer, with US$ 1.3 billion, against US$ 1.1 billion in the same period in 2011, followed by Egypt, which grew from US$ 1.1 billion to US$ 1.26 billion, Oman, whose purchases climbed from US$ 339 million to US$ 621 million, and by Algeria, from US$ 863 million to US$ 612 million.
In July, sales of sugar dropped significantly, from US$ 529.8 million to US$ 383 million, as did those of ores, from US$ 285 million to US$ 271 million, and grain, from US$ 41.6 million to US$ 28 million, as well as other products that are not as expressive in the total, like wood, vehicle parts and coffee. But the exports of meats rose, from US$ 279 million to US$ 326.6 million, as did those of grain, from US$ 44 million to US$ 147 million.
Egypt overtook Saudi Arabia and became the main Arab importer from Brazil in July, with US$ 269.7 million. In the same month in 2011, the country had bought US$ 192 million. In second place came the Saudis, with US$ 236.9 million, as against US$ 320 million in July last year, followed by the Emirates, which dropped from US$ 293 million to US$ 207 million, Oman, with growth from US$ 98.5 million to US$ 143.7 million, and then Morocco, climbing from US$ 36 million to US$ 84.5 million.
Different from exports, Brazil’s imports from the Arab countries are still rising fast. They climbed 33.6% in the period from January to July, to US$ 7.3 billion. In July, they totalled US$ 1.2 billion, with growth of 27% over the seventh month in 2011. Brazil imports mainly oil, oil products and fertilizers from the region.
*Translated by Mark Ament
