Brazil’s trade balance ended July with a surplus of US$7.6 billion, the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services (MDIC) reported this Thursday (6) in Brasília. The result represents a 6.6% drop in the balance of operations compared to July 2023, when the surplus was US$8.2 billion.
The data shows that Brazilian exports reached a record in the month, totaling US$30.9 billion, driven by items from agriculture – soybeans and coffee –, extractive industry – iron ore – and manufacturing industry – especially sugar, beef and steel. Imports also rose compared to July 2023, with a focus on capital goods, resulting in a trade flow of around US$54.2 billion.
According to the MDIC, Brazil reached US$ 198.2 billion in exports in the year to date, a growth of 2.4% compared to the first seven months of 2023; and US$ 148.6 billion in imports, which means an increase of 5.6%.
Expansion
As for the destination of exports, the highlights of the month were the European Union, China and the United States, with expansion of 20%, 16.3% and 15.3%, respectively. With the economic crisis in Argentina, sales to the neighboring country continued to fall last month.
For the director of Statistics and Foreign Trade Studies at MDIC, Herlon Brandão, the year 2024 has shown quite stable exports, unlike 2023, when sales fluctuated more in the first half of the year.
“This is a characteristic of the volume, as this year exports have grown driven by volume. And prices in general are falling. The forecast for the year is growth. We expect to close 2024 with a growth of 1.7% in Brazilian exports,” he said.
