São Paulo – Brazil ran a USD 690 million trade surplus in the fourth week of September, with exports grossing USD 3.71 billion and imports amounting to USD 3.02 billion. according to numbers released this Monday (26) by the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services, exports shrank in the fourth week from the other three weeks of this month. Year-to-date in September, however, foreign sales exceeded those of the comparable period in 2015.
In the fourth week of September, exports averaged USD 741.9 million per business day, down 7.5% from the first three weeks. Imports averaged USD 604 million per day, up 2.9% from the year-ago period.
Through the fourth week of September, exports averaged USD 783.1 million a day, up 1.8%. Semi-finished goods exports were up, while basic and finished goods declined.
The Ministry reported that semi-finished goods exports averaged USD 131.8 million a day, up 21.6% from September 2015, due to stronger sales of raw sugar, semi-finished gold, timber, butter, fat, cocoa oil and soy oil.
Basic goods exports fell 2.2% to USD 333.4 million, with sales going down for soybeans, tobacco leaves, soy bran, beef and maize. Finished goods exports slipped 0.5% to USD 299.9 million a day, driven by aluminum oxide and hydroxide, plastic polymers, auto parts, vehicle engines and flat-rolled iron and steel.
Through the fourth week of September, imports stood at USD 592.2 million a day, down 5.8% from a year ago, with slower purchases of steel and iron products, mechanical equipment, fertilizer, fuels, and lubricants. So far in September, Brazil is running a USD 3.055 billion trade surplus.
Year-to-date, exports reached USD 136.1 billion, with imports at USD 100.6 billion and a USD 35.4 billion surplus. The comparable period of 2015 had seen a USD 9.9 billion surplus.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
