Uneasiness spreads as Brazil’s trade with main partner China retracts 9.35

After reaching a record figure of US$ 150.172 billion in 2022, the trade flow (exports + imports) between Brazil and China saw a 9.3% drop in the first two months of 2023 compared to the same period last year, indicating the possibility of a slight slowdown in Brazil’s trade with its main trading partner in 2023.

In January and February, data from the Foreign Trade Secretariat (Secex) of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Services (MDIC) suggest a retraction of 4.9% in Brazilian exports, which totaled US$ 10.157 billion. The contraction was even more significant on the Chinese side: 14.1% to US$ 8.300 billion. With that, trade between the two countries totaled US$ 18.457 billion in the period, with a reduction of 9.3%.

After reaching a share of more than 30% in 2020 and 2021, Brazilian exports to China declined to 26.8% last year, and in the first two months of this year, they dropped a little more to 23.4%.

The decline in imports was less pronounced. The purchases of Chinese products, with a total cost of US$ 60.744 billion in 2022 and accounting for 22.3% of total Brazilian imports, fell to 21.7%.

Containerized cargo imports – China to Brazil | Jan 2019 – Jan 2023 | TEUs

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Crude oil continues to lead the Brazilian export basket to China, with shipments worth US$ 1.71 billion, an expressive 76.1% increase compared to the same period in 2022 and equivalent to 33% of the total shipped to the Asian country. With a retraction of 11%, iron ores generated US$ 994 million, corresponding to 19% of total sales.

On the other hand, with an increase of 47% and revenue of US$ 447 million, beef accounted for 9.4% of shipments. See below Brazil’s exports of beef to China between Jan 2019 and Jan 2023, according to the DataLiner platform.

Beef exports to China | Jan 2019 – Jan 2023 | WTMT

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Soy, which has traditionally been the flagship of trade with China in recent years, saw a 69% drop in the two-month period to US$ 308 million (5.9% of total exports to China), and wood pulp, with revenues of US$ 279 million (up 5.22% and 5.4% share of total exports).

Source: Comex do Brasil

To read the original news piece, check: https://www.comexdobrasil.com/retracao-de-935-na-corrente-de-comercio-no-primeiro-bimestre-do-ano-acende-luz-amarela-no-comercio-do-brasil-com-a-china

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