The valuation of commodities (primary goods with international quotation) that took place last year made Brazil close 2022 with the best result in history for the trade balance. In 2022, the country exported US$ 62.31 billion more than it imported, the biggest surplus since the beginning of the historical series, in 1989.
The value represents growth of 1.5% compared to the previous record of US$ 61.407 billion registered in 2021. The numbers were released this Monday (2) by the Foreign Trade Secretariat of the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, which resulted from the dismemberment of the former Ministry of Economy.
Both exports and imports also broke the historical series record. Last year, Brazil sold US$ 335.01 billion abroad, up 19.3% compared to 2021 based on the daily average. Purchases from abroad totaled US$ 272.697 billion, an increase of 24.3%, also according to the daily average.
In December alone, the trade balance registered a surplus of US$ 4.779 billion, the sixth best result in history for the month, but with an increase of 24.5% in relation to the balance of the same month of 2021. Exports totaled US$ 26.645 billion , and imports totaled US$ 21.866 billion last month, with record values for December.
Commodities
The year was marked by the appreciation of commodities, mainly caused by the increase in global consumption after the worst phase of the covid-19 pandemic and the war in Eastern Europe. Despite the trade balance having been impacted by the higher prices of items imported from Russia and Ukraine, such as fertilizers and wheat, Brazil benefited from the appreciation of oil on the international market. The country also took advantage of the record grain harvest.
The greatest positive impact on the trade balance came from the rise in international prices. Last year, the volume of exported goods increased by 5.5%, but the price rose, on average, by 13.6%. On the import side, the quantity purchased rose by 2.6%, and the price increased by 23.4%.
I estimated
The trade balance result came in above forecasts. In November, the previous government had estimated at $55.4 billion the trade surplus for 2022. Despite the drop in the estimate, this value would guarantee the second highest trade surplus in the historical series.
Official estimates are updated every three months. The balance on the balance sheet also came in better than the financial market forecasts. The Focus bulletin, a survey of market analysts released every week by the Central Bank, projected a surplus of US$ 56.9 billion last year.
