Brazilian trade balance registers a surplus of US$ 374 million on March 15

The Brazilian trade balance registered a surplus of US $ 374 million up through the second week of March of this year, with a trade flow of US$ 83.651 billion, according to data released by the Ministry of Economy’s Foreign Trade Secretariat (SECEX) on the 15th of March. Exports totaled US$ 42.013 billion, with the daily average up 12.1%, and imports rose 22.4% and reached US$ 41.639 billion.

In the accumulated result for the first two weeks of March, exports grew 30.5% to US$ 10.88 billion, while imports rose 61.8% and totaled US$ 10.67 billion. Thus for March, the trade balance registered a surplus of US$ 207.6 million and the trade flow reached US$ 21.56 billion, an increase of 44.3%.

During the second week of March, the trade flow reached US$ 10.016 billion, with US$ 5.368 billion in exports and US$ 4.649 billion in imports, generating a trade surplus of US $ 719.2 million.

Exports in the month

In exports – comparing the daily average until the second week of this month (US$ 1.088 billion) with that of March 2020 (US$ 833.98 million) – there was an increase of 30.5% due to the increase in industry sales extractive (94.1%), agriculture (22%) and products from the manufacturing industry (11.4%).

The increase in exports was driven mainly by growth in sales of the following products from the extractive industry: iron ore and concentrates (117.6%); crude petroleum oils or raw bituminous minerals (76.1%); copper ores and concentrates (271.4%); nickel ores and concentrates (192.5%); and stone, sand, and gravel (38.3%).

Regarding the manufacturing industry, the highlight was the growth in sales of semi-finished products, ingots, and other primary forms of iron or steel (64.5%); sugars and molasses (45.2%); works of iron or steel and other articles of base metal (237.7%); cellulose (22.9%); and alumina and aluminum oxide (57.4%) – except for artificial corundum.

The increase in exports also included growth in sales of the following agricultural products: soy (19%); raw cotton (69.3%); unroasted coffee (26.8%); unground corn – except sweet corn (32.3%) – and unground wheat and rye (99%).

Imports in the month

In imports, the daily average until the second week of March 2021 (US$ 1.067 billion) was 61.8% above the March average of last year (US$ 659.81 million). In comparison, spending increased, mainly with agriculture (10.1%) and with products from the manufacturing industry (66.8%). On the other hand, purchases of products from the extractive industry decreased (-38.8%).

The increase in imports was driven by the growth in purchases of raw or roasted cocoa (65.8%); whole fish alive, dead or chilled (37.2%); unground corn, except sweet corn (87%); soybeans (127.2%) and unground barley (56.3%), among agricultural products.

In the manufacturing industry, the highlights of the increase in imports were, once again, the inflows of platforms, vessels, and other floating structures (2,388.4%). Imports of fertilizers or chemical fertilizers also increased, except for raw fertilizers (39.6%); telecommunications equipment, including parts and accessories (29.5%); medicines and pharmaceutical products, except veterinary (41.1%); and thermionic valves and tubes, cold cathode or photo-cathode, diodes, transistors (25.9%).

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