Foreign trade

Exports this month, compared to the result of December 2016, grew 9.9%

In the first two weeks of December, the Brazilian trade balance had a surplus of US $ 1.038 billion, with exports of US $ 4.779 billion and imports of US $ 3.741 billion. The figures  were published on Monday (11) by the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services.

In the year, exports reached US $ 204.929 billion and imports totaled US $ 141.888 billion, with a positive balance of US $ 63.041 billion.

In exports, compared to the second half of this month (US $ 796.4 million) compared to December 2016 (US $ 724.6 million), there was a growth of 9.9%. The reason was the increase in sales of semimanufactured products (14.9% due to iron and steel derivatives, wood chips or particles, ferro-alloys, copper cathodes, sawn or chipped wood, gold in semimanufactured forms), (9.2% for soybeans and corn in grains, copper ore, raw cotton, beef, leaf tobacco) and manufactured products (8.4% for aluminum oxides and hydroxides; gasoline, plastic polymers and ethanol).

In November 2017, the daily average also contracted by 4.5%, due to a drop in sales of basic products (-16.4%), while semimanufactured products (10%) and manufactured products (1.6%). In imports, the daily average up to the second week of this month (US $ 623.5 million) was 19% above the average of December last year (US $ 523.9 million).

In this comparison, expenditures increased mainly with organic and inorganic chemicals (35.4%), optics and precision instruments (34.8%), plastics and works (31.8%), motor vehicles and parts (31, 6%) and electrical and electronic equipment (27.7%). In comparison with November 2017, there was a decrease of 5.1%, due to the decrease in purchases of fuels and lubricants (-40.5%), copper and works (-25.2%), electrical and electronic equipment (-8.5% ), organic and inorganic chemicals (-8.5%) and motor vehicles and parts (-7.1%).

Source: Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services