Brazil Achieves Record-breaking Exports Over $100 Billion to China

On Friday, January 5, Brazil’s Secretary of Foreign Trade, Tatiana Prazeres, announced the country surpassed the $100 billion milestone in exports to China for the first time. This amount represents Brazil’s highest value ever exported to a single trading partner. In the past year, Brazil achieved $105.7 billion in sales to the Asian country, a 16.5% increase compared to 2022.

According to the Director of Statistics and Foreign Trade Studies at the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services (MDIC), Herlon Brandão, iron ore exports in 2023 were “very surprising.” He noted that China continued to demand the Brazilian product, even as the Asian country’s economy exhibited weaker performance.

In 2023, the total value of iron ore and its concentrates exports grew by 5.5%, driven by a 10% increase in volume sold despite a 4.1% decline in prices.

Brandão also highlighted the growth of exports to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), accounting for 7.2% of Brazil’s foreign sales last year—a higher share than Mercosur, which held a 6.9% share of exports.

According to data released by the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services (MDIC) on Friday, Brazil’s trade balance recorded a surplus of $9.36 billion in December, bringing the country to a total surplus of $98.838 billion in 2023—a record result, 60.6% higher than that of 2022.

The 2023 figure was achieved with exports of $339.673 billion (a 1.7% increase compared to 2022) and imports of $240.835 billion—an 11.7% decrease from the previous year.

See below the top export products from Brazil to China in the first eleven months of 2023. The data is from DataLiner.

Top Exports to China | 2023 | WTMT

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

The ministry projects a new record for exports in 2024, reaching $348.2 billion, a 2.5% increase compared to the 2023 result. According to Tatiana Prazeres, a new export record in 2024 is expected despite the more challenging global economic scenario.

She believes that despite some uncertainty about prices, the expectation is that the record will be achieved, mainly due to the increased export volume. “The estimate of increased exports is mainly related to the increase in the quantity exported,” she said.

Source: O Estado de S. Paulo

Click here to read the original news piece: https://www.estadao.com.br/economia/brasil-ultrapassa-pela-primeira-vez-marca-de-us-100-bilhoes-exportados-a-china/

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