Brazil-China trade hits record high through September

Brazil’s exports to China, imports from the country and total bilateral trade all reached record highs in the first nine months of 2026, cementing the Asian nation’s position as both Brazil’s largest export market and its leading source of imports.

Brazilian shipments to China rose 12% to $84.7 billion from January through September, compared with the same period in 2025, while imports increased 9.9% to $58.6 billion. Total trade between the two countries, combining exports and imports, reached $143.3 billion.

Brazil posted a $26.1 billion trade surplus with China, driven largely by soybeans, crude oil and iron ore. The three commodities, long the backbone of Brazilian exports to the Chinese market, still account for more than 77% of shipments. The figures were compiled by the Brazil-China Business Council (CEBC) using data from Brazil’s Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services (MDIC).

Commodity exports

Soybeans remained Brazil’s largest export to China, generating $30 billion in sales between January and September. China accounted for 70% of Brazil’s soybean shipments. Crude oil ranked second at $21.8 billion, a 49% increase from the first nine months of 2025.

Iron ore came third, followed by beef, which faces an annual import quota imposed by Beijing this year. Brazilian beef exports to China fell 8.5% as a result.

Poultry exports moved in the opposite direction. Sales of chicken meat and offal to China surged 113% in value and 86% in volume during the nine-month period. Chicken ranked seventh among Brazil’s ten largest exports to the Asian country but posted the strongest relative gains of any product in the group.

Copper ore also stood out this year, with shipments rising 7.8%, placing it eighth among Brazil’s top ten exports to China.

Emerging export markets

Other products could soon enter Brazil’s top ten exports to China, said Tulio Cariello, director of content and research at the CEBC. He highlighted particularly strong growth in sorghum and dried distillers grains (DDG), a byproduct of corn ethanol production.

Shipments of both products have surged following the implementation of bilateral agreements between Brazil and China.

DDG is used in animal feed. Brazil exported $204 million worth of the product worldwide, with China accounting for 53% of the total. Sales to the Chinese market were negligible last year but have expanded following a protocol signed by Brazil and China in May 2025, the CEBC study shows. Actual shipments began in February.

Sorghum gained access to the Chinese market through a bilateral phytosanitary agreement signed in late 2024. Exports accelerated this year, reaching $170 million between January and September.

“Shipments of sorghum and DDG are particularly important at a time when China has been seeking to diversify its suppliers of animal feed products while increasing domestic production,” Cariello said.

Another notable export, although still outside the top ten, is spodumene, a mineral used to extract lithium and part of China’s growing demand for critical minerals.

Brazilian spodumene exports to China totaled $172.3 million between January and September 2026, a 339% jump from the same period last year. China purchased 97% of Brazil’s exports of the mineral.

Chinese vehicle imports

On the import side, electrified vehicles were among the main highlights. After rising steadily month after month during the first half of the year, imports fell in July and August.

In July, Brazil raised import tariffs on electrified vehicles to 35%, from previous rates of 25% or 30%, depending on vehicle specifications. Despite the increase, shipments of Chinese vehicles rebounded to significant volumes in September.

From January through September, imports of Chinese electrified vehicles, including conventional hybrids, plug-in hybrids and fully electric models, reached $5.9 billion. That represented roughly 10% of Brazil’s total imports from China during the period.

Cariello said the figures suggest that Chinese vehicle imports in 2026 are not simply a response to the tariff schedule in the first half of the year.

“Electric vehicles will continue to grow in the coming months, at least through the end of the year, because China is genuinely establishing a market in Brazil. Registrations of electrified vehicles in Brazil show that,” he said.

Herbicides also featured prominently among Brazilian imports of Chinese-made goods, ranking third among the ten largest product categories.

In the information technology segment, memory chips stood out for a sharp divergence between import volumes and values. While the quantity imported fell 11% between January and September, the value of those imports surged 237%.

Source: Valor International

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