Brazil posts $7.6 billion trade surplus in May

Brazil posted a new record trade surplus in May: $7.6 billion. According to the Foreign Trade Index published by Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV), the cumulative year-to-date figure for the first five months of the year was also a record: $29 billion.

The main exports were soybeans, iron ore, and oil, reflecting the relevance of commodities in Brazil's trade.

Cars stand out

Among manufactured products, the main export highlight was automobiles, currently ing for 3.1% of Brazil's total exports.

According to the FGV, the good performance of Brazilian exports can be explained both by the products' price hike (13%) and an increase in export shipments (9%).

While imports have also gone up (13%), the revenue from imports lagged behind (9%) due to a price decrease in imported products (-1.6%).

Translated by Mayra Borges