São Paulo – Brazil saw an increase in exports in October’s second week in comparison to the first one. In the period, the exports daily average reached USD 1.1 billion, 10.5% above the USD 1 billion average of the previous week. The data was shown this Monday (15) by the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services (MDIC).
These numbers reflected the foreign sales performance of semi-finished and finished products, which climbed 86% and 12.4%, respectively. Total exports in the period reached USD 4.467 billion, while imports totaled USD 2.721 billion. The resulting trade surplus in the four business days-week was of USD 1.746 billion.
In the month, exports totaled USD 9.519 billion, with imports reaching USD 6.46 billion, with a USD 3.059 billion trade surplus. Year-to-date, exports have reached USD 189.178 billion, with imports totaling USD 141.805 billion, with a trade surplus of USD 47.374 billion.
Regarding foreign sales of semi-finished products last week, the MDIC highlighted raw sugar, cast iron, steel/iron semi-finished products, sawn or chipped timber and wood pulp. Among finished products, stood out sales of tractors, taps, valves and similar articles and part, and aircrafts. Among basic goods, there was a 7.9% decline in foreign sales, pulled down by soy beans, copper ore and concentrates, corn grains, among others. Imports also dropped, with the daily average declining 9% in comparison to the first week.
Improved performance in the month
Comparing exports daily average of October’s first two weeks (USD 1 billion) with the average of the same month of 2017, there was a 17.7% growth. In comparison to September 2018, shipments increased 5.4%.
Imports increased 10.2% by the daily average until the second week of October 2018 over the same month of 2017 to USD 717.7 million. In comparison to September of this year, imports dropped 3.4%, mainly by a decrease in purchases of organic and inorganic fertilizers, steel products, cereals and milling industry products, motor vehicles and parts, and electronics.
Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
