Brazil: trade balance has surplus of US$ 11 billion in March

The Brazilian trade balance had an US$11 billion surplus in March. The number was released on Monday, April 3rd, by the country’s Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce, and Services (Mdic). The final result was 37.7% higher than the figure seen in the same period of the previous year, using the daily average as means of comparison.

Exports totaled US$ 33.06 billion in March, an increase of 7.5%. However, imports reached US$ 22.1 billion, a drop of 3.1%.

Year-to-date, in the first three months of the year, exports totaled US$ 76.4 billion, an increase of 3.4%. Imports reached US$ 60.4 billion, down 1.9%. The trade flow, the sum of exports and imports, reached US$ 136.8 billion, an increase of 1%.

Exports to China go up

The daily average of Brazilian exports to China, Hong Kong, and Macau, the main destinations for Brazilian products, rose 12.3% in March compared to the same month of the previous year. Total sales to Asia rose 9.6%.

Sales to North America increased by 6.2%, to South America by 9.2%, and to Europe by 7.4% compared to March 2022. As for the Middle East, there was a drop of 10.5% in sales. Trade remained stable, while exports to Central America and the Caribbean went 16.8% up.

Extractive industry on the rise

Agricultural exports rose 6.3% compared to the same month of the previous year. In the case of the extractive industry, there was a rise of 20.6%, while in the case of the processing industry, there was a rise of 1.6%.

On the side of imports, there was a drop of 19.7% in agricultural purchases, 23.8% in the extractive industry, and 0.8% in the manufacturing and processing industry.

Source: Valor Econômico

To read the original news report, please access: https://valor.globo.com/brasil/noticia/2023/04/03/secex-balana-comercial-tem-supervit-de-us-11-bilhes-em-maro.ghtml

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