Chemicals: Brazil import volume down 5.1%

The apparent consumption of industrial chemicals went 0.4% up in July year on year in Brazil, mostly driven by a 5.1% volume increase in imports.

From a different angle, in comparison to June, domestic production and sales were also positive, which led to a 5.5% increase in domestic demand. Production increased by 2.98%, while domestic sales rose 0.99%, with 68% of the national capacity used, two percentage points above June. Also compared to the month immediately before, July imports increased by 8.4%.

According to the industry association Abiquim, the prices practiced in the domestic market rose 0.26% in July, in nominal terms, after a slight expansion of 0.04% in June.

Year-to-date through July, domestic demand dropped by 1.4%, while production and domestic sales grew by 0.05% and 1.03%, respectively, with a drop of 4.8% in exported volumes.

“As a result, imported products constituted about 42% of the domestic market from January to July 2022, up from 45% in the same period last year. This drop resulted in a three-point increase in market share for local producers,” says Abiquim.

See below the track record of the volume of chemical products (HS 28, HS 29) imported by Brazil from January 2021 to July 2022. The data is from DataLiner.

Brazilian Imports of Chemicals (HS 28, HS 29) | Jan 2021 – Jul 2022 | WTMT

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

In a note, the director of economics and statistics of Abiquim, Fátima Giovanna Coviello Ferreira, says that the upward revision of the projections for the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) also improves the chemical industry’s estimates.

“If these predictions prove to be true, considering the historical elasticity of chemicals vis-a-vis GDP, as well as the use of chemical products in all other industries, the growth in demand is expected to be 50% higher than the growth in GDP,” she says.

Source: Valor Econômico

To read the full original article, please go to: https://valor.globo.com/empresas/noticia/2022/09/01/importacao-de-produtos-quimicos-em-julho-sobe-51percent-em-volume-informa-abiquim.ghtml

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