RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Uruguayan exports grew 50.9% in July, without counting what was sold from free zones, with respect to the same month in 2020, announced Monday (01) the report of the Union of Exporters of Uruguay (UEU).
The report details that purchase order for goods reached US$924 million in July and accumulated US$5.295 billion so far this year, reflected in an increase of 37.6% compared to the same period in 2020, a year marked by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The UEU further details that, if exports from free trade zones are included, the increase recorded is 58.7% in July and 37.5% so far this year.
Specifically, the report points out that the increase of export requests in July is explained by “the increase of several destinations” and details the particular strength of the increase to China with 171.58% for meat, soybean, wood, and dairy products, or to Brazil with a 57.97% increase after the sale of milling products, vehicles or plastics.
The main destination of Uruguayan exports continues to be China (27%), followed by Brazil (11.85%), the United States (5.21%), Turkey (5.16%), Argentina (4.6%), and Egypt (2.92%), among others.
In July, the highest increase -among the top 20 destinations- was to Iraq (4786.76 %) due to rice placements and Egypt (1861.97 %) due to soybean sales, while the most important drops were to Algeria (-32.82 %), due to lower dairy sales and the United States (-31.67 %) due to lower meat sales.
Meat continues to be at the top of the ranking of requests for export of goods in July after increases to China, Israel, the Netherlands, and Japan, despite the fall in sales to the United States.
The report also points out that, measured in tons, export requests increased 13.1% compared to the same month in 2020, and this shows that, on average, “there was a strong increase in export prices” because placements measured in dollars increased 50.9% in the same period.