Brazil opens 2022 with record exports; best result since 1997

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazilian foreign trade followed the trajectory of records at the beginning of 2022. Exports in January grew 25.3% and reached US$19.67 billion. It was the best result for the month in the historical series that started in 1997.

Imports reached US$19.85 billion, up 24.6% – the third highest value for the month and the highest since January 2014 (US$20.2 billion). With this, the trade flow (the sum of exports and imports) was also a record, rising 25% and reaching US$39.52 billion.

The trade balance had a small deficit of US$176 million, but with a recovery over the January 2021 deficit of US$200 million.

“Despite having a record export, we also have a growing import, which comes since the last half of last year, due to Brazilian demand,” explained the Under Secretary of Intelligence and Statistics for Foreign Trade, Herlon Brandão, when releasing the data from the Foreign Trade Secretariat of the Ministry of Economy (Secex/ME), on Tuesday (February 1st).

AGRICULTURE AND CATTLE-RAISING

Even with the off-season period, the great highlight of exports was the farming and cattle raising goods, with 97.5% growth in the month, strengthened by the “more robust shipments of soybeans”.

The transformation industry was also a highlight, with a 36.1% growth in January, reaching US$12.2 billion in sales.

On the other hand, the shipments of the extractive industry decreased 18.6%, pulled by the decline in sales of iron ore. “Climate issues, such as excessive rainfall, affect the flow of iron ore,” explained Brandão.

There was an increase in sales of steel goods, which helped raise total exports to the United States by 51.8% (US$ 2.27 billion). The undersecretary added that the exportation of Brazilian oil was also a highlight for this market.

Also significant, according to Secex, were the increases in sales to Argentina (+18.3%), which totaled US$943 million, and to the European Union (+46%), reaching US$2.82 billion.

However, shipments to China, Hong Kong and Macau (-3.8%) decreased, to US$ 4.33 billion, reflecting the drop in iron ore output.

ENERGY PRODUCTION

On the imports side, there was a significant increase in purchases of products for the Extractive Industry – mainly crude oil, natural gas, and coal – linked to energy production in Brazil.

Furthermore, the prices of imported extractive industry goods, which have been increasing since the last months of last year, rose 99.1% in January.

In Manufacturing, Secex registered an increase of 14.9% in imports, while in Agriculture and Livestock, purchases fell 15.7%. “Mainly wheat,” stressed Brandão. This reduction affected Brazilian purchases from Argentina, which fell 4.5% since that country is the main supplier of wheat to Brazil.

Among the origins, the highlights were the increase in purchases from the United States (+53.8%), which is also a major supplier of energy commodities. From China, purchases increased by 39.9%.