DataLiner: Brazilian imports and exports via containers reveal bustling start-of-year

2024 kicked off with a bustling foreign trade scene. Freshly released data from Datamar’s Business Intelligence team on Brazil’s container throughput for January 2024 indicates that the Brazilian containerized trade flow (the sum of imports plus exports) surged by 13.8% compared to January 2023. The figure, 472,963 TEUs, exceeds the past 10 years’ records.

Check below the expansion of the Brazilian trade flow, measured in TEUs, every month from January 2014 to January 2024. The data are from DataLiner.

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Considering container exports alone, the surge from January 2023 was 18.3%, totaling 228,447 TEUs. While meat remains the most exported containerized commodity, traders saw a 7.6% year-on-year decrease. Shipments of wood increased by 33.4%, cotton by 180.1%, coffee by 44.3%, and sugar by 101.4%.

China remained the top destination for Brazilian goods, with container shipments growing by 40.2% compared to January 2022, followed by the USA (+10.9%), Mexico (+52.1%), and Colombia (+40.5%).

Imports

Brazilian imports via containers saw a significant jump of 9.9% in January compared to the same month in 2022, totaling 244,512 TEUs. Highlights include a surge in plastic imports (+23.1%) and glass imports (+172.6%). Conversely, auto parts imports dropped by 16.8% in the same comparison.

China remained the primary source of products imported by Brazil via containers, with a volume 39.4% higher than January 2022. Imports from the United States grew by 18.6%. However, imports from Germany (-26.8%), Belgium (-25.7%), Italy (-14.1%), and India (-9.9%) experienced declines.

Plate

Argentina is still in a rough patch. In January, container exports saw a slight uptick of 1.2%, while imports dropped by 14.4%.

On the other hand, Uruguay recorded a 10.6% increase in container exports and a 2.2% rise in imports compared to January 2023.

It’s worth noting that one-month data may not reveal a trend or an economic cycle because various seasonal factors can influence this process.

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