Gold exports from Pará surge nearly 2,000% in 2025, surpassing R$ 1 billion by May

Pará’s non-monetary gold exports surged by 1,963.4% between January and May 2025, reaching US$204 million—approximately R$1.04 billion, based on the average dollar exchange rate of R$5.10. During the same period in 2024, exports totaled only US$ 9.88 million.

With this performance, Pará has solidified its position as the second-largest mineral-exporting state in Brazil, behind only Minas Gerais. The data comes from the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services (MDIC) and the Brazilian Mining Institute (Ibram).

Itaituba leads state exports
The city of Itaituba, in southwestern Pará, accounted for the majority of gold exports, with US$188.5 million (approximately R$961 million), making it the state’s leading gold export hub. According to the 2024 Brazilian Mineral Yearbook, Altamira and Floresta do Araguaia also stand out for their gold reserves.

Between January and March 2025, Pará exported 1.72 tonnes of semi-manufactured gold, totaling US$127.07 million (R$648 million), according to Ibram.

Switzerland tops list of buyers
Switzerland was the top buyer of gold from Pará, purchasing US$ 171.5 million (R$ 874.6 million) worth of gold, totaling 2,236 kg in net weight. Canada followed with US$ 15.1 million (R$ 77 million), and the United States with US$ 14.9 million (R$ 76 million).

High prices drive market growth
According to Julio Nery, Ibram’s Director of Mining Affairs, the rise in gold prices has been a key driver of this growth. “The price per troy ounce jumped from US$ 2,669 in January to US$ 3,289 in June 2025, a gain of over 23% this year alone,” he said.

Larissa Rodrigues, Director of Research at Instituto Escolhas, reinforced the impact of price increases: “In 2023, gold was R$ 312 per gram; in 2024, R$ 416; and now, in 2025, it’s already at R$ 561. This directly stimulates extraction.”

Crackdown on illegality strengthens formal market
Export growth is also linked to measures taken to curb illegal gold trading. These include the end of the presumption of good faith in transactions, mandatory electronic invoicing, and the traceability of buyers through Brazil’s National Mining Agency (ANM).
“The new regulatory environment has made the legal market safer,” said Nery, also crediting entities like Instituto Escolhas for monitoring legal compliance in the sector.

Revenue up, but communities see little benefit
Pará collected R$ 1.2 billion in mineral production revenue in the first half of 2025, including R$ 27 million from gold. About 60% of this goes to mining municipalities, but according to Larissa Rodrigues, tangible improvements are still lacking.
“The social return is still limited. There’s a lack of meaningful investment in areas like health and education, which generates frustration and conflict in local communities,” she warned.

Environmental and social challenges persist
Despite progress in governance, major environmental and social issues remain. Larissa emphasized the need to ban mercury use—still common in artisanal mining—and to rehabilitate degraded land.

She advocates for a mandatory public traceability system to prevent illegal gold from entering formal markets.

Industry boosts revenue but creates few jobs
According to Professor João Márcio Palheta from UFPA, the sector boosts tax revenue, including CFEM and ICMS, but is capital-intensive and generates few direct jobs.
“Informal labor and precarious conditions are common in mining areas,” he noted.

Palheta also highlighted the economic vulnerability of Pará, which heavily relies on mining exports. “Over 90% of the state’s exports come from minerals, making the economy highly sensitive to international market fluctuations,” he concluded.

Source: ParaWeb News

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