RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The trade balance recorded a surplus of US$1.87 billion in the fourth week of July, reported the Secretariat of Foreign Trade (Secex) of the Ministry of Economy. The surplus is the difference between exports of US$5.91 billion and imports of US$4.04 billion in the period. In the year so far, the trade balance is positive at US$43.67 billion.
The daily average of exports in the month through the fourth week rose 42.7% over the same month last year to US$1.204 billion. The extractive industry continues to lead the shipments, with a rise of 68.9% in the period, followed by the transformation industry (+43.9%) and agriculture and ranching (+13.5%).
Imports, on the other hand, grew 55%, if compared to July last year, using the daily average through the fourth week in July, to US$ 796 million, The advance of imports was also led by the extractive industry (+75.8%), followed by the transformation industry (+54.7%) and agriculture and ranching (+50.3%).