Brazil’s trade balance registers deficit for fourth week of January

According to data released by Secex (Secretariat of Foreign Trade), in the fourth week of January 2020 the trade balance registered a US$561 million deficit, with the total amount traded at US$5.693 billion, resulting from exports of US$2.566 billion and imports of US$3.127 billion. The cumulative total for the month saw total exports at US$11.397 billion and imports at US$11.041 billion, with a positive trade balance of US$356 million and a total trade flow of US$22.437 billion.

Weekly analysis

According to the data released, average exports for the 4th week reached US$513.2 million, 30.3% below the average of US$735.9 million registered up to the 3rd week, due to the reduction in exports of basic goods (crude oil, iron ore, raw cotton, beef, pork, chicken and soy in grains); manufactured goods (airplanes, acyclic alcohols and their halogenated derivatives, fuel oils, earthmoving machinery and equipment, gasoline) and semi-manufactured goods (iron/steel semi-manufactured goods, raw sugar, cast iron, cellulose, leather and hides).

On the import side, there was a 5.2% drop over the same period comparison (average of the 4th week at US$625.4 million compared with US $ 659.5 million up to the third week), mainly explained by the decrease in amount spent on mechanical equipment, organic and inorganic chemicals, copper and its works, motor vehicles and parts, and electronic equipment.

Monthly analysis

There was an 18.4% drop in exports seen in the 4th week of January 2020 (US$ 670.4 million) compared with the same period last year (US$ 822.0 million).  This was due to the decrease in sales of the three product categories: manufactured goods (-26.5%, from US$320.1 million to US$235.1 million); semi-manufactured (-20.3%, from US$131.4 million to US$104.7 million) and basic goods (-10.8%, from US$370.5 million to US$330.5 million).

In relation to December 2019, there was a 22.5% drop in exports due to a reduction in sales of basic products (-30.9%, from US$478.6 million to US$330.5 million) and manufactured products (-18.2%, from US$287.5 million to US$235.1 million). On the other hand, exports of semi-manufactured products grew (+ 6.3%, from US$ 98.5 million to US$104.7 million). On the import side, the daily average until the 4th week of January 2020 reached US$649.5 million, 12.8% below the average in January 2019 (US$744.9 million).

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