Brazil trade balance shows best performance for April since 1989

The Brazilian balance of trade showed a surplus of $6.97 billion in April—the best performance for the month since the beginning of this time series, initiated in 1989. The positive balance beats the record-breaking $4.86 billion from April, 2016.

Figures were released Tuesday (May 2) by the Ministry for Industry, Foreign Trade, and Services. From January to April this year, the balance of trade posted an accumulated surplus of $21.39 billion. The amount is also the highest recorded in history, suring the $13.2 billion record observed for January to April, 2016.

A surplus is seen when the country's exports sur imports.

In April, Brazilian exports totaled $17.68 billion, exceeding the $10.71 billion in imports. Exports increased 27.8% from April 2016, according to the daily average criterion, which takes into the amount negotiated per business day. Against March this year, a 12.5% expansion was reported.

Imports, in turn, expanded 13.3% from April last year, and grew 5.8% compared to March this year, according to the same criterion.

Highlights

Price hikes boosted exports, chief among which basic items, and semi-manufactured goods, which increased 29.2% and 27.5% compared to April last year. Most noticeable among the basic items are iron ore (an 87.6% increase against April 2016), crude oil (58.6%), copper ore (50.9%), pork (34.4%), soybeans (24.2%), and soybean meal (15.5%).

As for semi-manufactured goods, products such as soybean oil (173.9%), iron and steel (55.5%), cast iron (46.1%), and raw sugar (44.4%) showed the most significant expansions. As for manufactured products, for which sales rose 25.7% from April last year, exports grew for items such as refined sugar (139.1%) and freight vehicles (123.3%).

With regard to imports, hikes were reported in fuels and lubricants (28.5%), intermediary goods (16.5%) and consumption goods (6.3%). Capital goods, however, were seen to slide 5.9%.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira