Brasília – Driven by the maize and soy crops, the Brazilian trade balance showed a US$ 285 million surplus in the first week of June, the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade reported this Monday (10th). The surplus was a result of US$ 5.367 billion in exports and US$ 5.082 billion in imports.<\/p>\n
After last week’s result, the year-to-date trade deficit is down to US$ 5.109 billion, as against US$ 5.392 billion as of late May. Year-to-date exports stand at US$ 98.656 billion, and imports stand at US$ 103.765 billion.<\/p>\n
In the same period last year, Brazil’s trade balance showed a US$ 6.563 billion surplus. This year’s deficit is a result of delayed computing of US$ 4.5 billion worth of imports by Petrobras. The operations took place last year, but were only included in trade calculations from January through May. <\/p>\n
Based on daily average figures, exports were up 10.9% in the first week of June this year from the first week of June 2012. The highlight was primary goods exports, which averaged at US$ 586.5 million per working day, up 25.3%. The increase was driven by maize, soya bran, meat, oil, rice, and soya bean. <\/p>\n
Daily average exports of semi-manufactured goods were up 12.2%. However, sales of industrialized goods were down 6.7% using the same basis of comparison.<\/p>\n
Imports kept increasing last week, though at a lower rate than exports. In the first five working days of June, imports were up 9.6% based on daily average figures. The growth was driven by imports of pharmaceuticals (+56.9%), automobiles and auto parts (+54.6%) and consumer electronics (+35.6%).<\/p>\n
Despite last week’s performance, year-to-date imports are still growing at a higher rate than exports. According to the ministry, imports are up 10.2% so far this year, based on daily averages. Exports are down 2.2%.<\/p>\n
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum<\/strong><\/p>\n