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NEWS
Brazilian Exports to the US and Latin America
increase in August
The
trade balance data for August show signs of recovery
in exports to the United States and countries of
Latin America and the Caribbean. The Secretary of
Foreign Trade, Ministry of Development, Barral, said
yesterday that sales to the U.S. grew by 27.7% in
August compared to July. For Latin America and the
Caribbean, the increase in Brazilian exports was
11.6%. When we compare the performance of August
against the same month in 2008, but the falls are
still relevant: 39% for the U.S. market and 36.7%
for Latin America and the Caribbean.
According to official data, the best selling
products to the U.S. in August were oil, machinery
and equipment, organic chemicals, steel, pulp and
aircraft. "The U.S. economy is showing signs of
recovery," concluded Barral.
He expressed concern with the negative effect of
exchange rates on manufactured exports, which had a
decrease of 31% from January to August this year
compared to the same period of 2008. The overvalued
exchange rate raises the costs of production in
Brazil. The secretary said the impact has not been
homogeneous across all sectors, but said that
damages foreign sales in a time of oversupply.
Concern exchange rates is shared by the
vice-president of the Association of Foreign Trade
of Brazil (AEB), José Augusto de Castro. If affect
exports, the real appreciated encourages imports.
August was the fifth consecutive month of increase
in average daily imports that have benefited from
the fall of the dollar against the real. In April
the average was $ 430.9 million and in August was $
512.7 million.
The numbers of the trade balance shows exports of
U.S. $ 13.84 billion and imports U.S. $ 10.76
billion in August, prompting the balance to $ 3.07
billion. Considering the daily averages of last
month, exports fell by 29.9% over the same month in
2008. In imports, the drop was 38.3%.
Accumulated up to August, the trade surplus was U.S.
$ 19.96 billion, exports of U.S. $ 97.93 billion and
imports U.S. $ 77.96 billion. The daily average of
eight months, compared to the same period in 2008,
showed declines of 24.7% in sales and 31.1% on
purchases.
Castro does not believe that exports will reach $
160 billion this year, the target set by government.
In their accounts, they will be U.S. $ 146.2 billion
and imports of $ 124.8 billion, resulting in a
surplus of U.S. $ 21.4 billion. "To meet the goal of
$ 160 billion, the daily average must leave $ 590
million to $ 739 million, which seems difficult for
the 84 days missing," he said.
Castro said he does not see consistent signs of
recovery of the U.S. economy, unlike Barral. For
him, what happened in August than in July, was the
effect of rising oil prices and the cellulose in the
period. What caught the attention of the vice
president of AEB was the significant volume of
shipments of soybeans. In the 12 months of 2008 were
24.5 million tonnes, but in eight months of 2009,
Brazil exported 25.6 million tonnes. "This increase
is surprising because there is news of break 3
million tons in the harvest of soybeans," he said.
Foreign sales for the period January-August, showed
declines in all categories of products were compared
with the same period in 2008. The largest decline
was in manufacturing (31.3%), followed by
manufactured goods (30.3%) and basic (13.1%).
January-July, the Secex accounted for 13% drops in
prices and 12.6% in the quantities exported. The
biggest decline in volumes shipped was in
manufacturing (27.4%).
The daily average of imports in January-August
period had falls on those eight months in 2008. The
reductions were more intense in fuel (54.1%), raw
materials and intermediate goods (32.4%), capital
goods (20%) and consumer goods (9.7%).
09/02/2009 (Source:
Valor Economico)
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