Agribusiness exports in São Paulo closed the first two months of the year with a drop of 10.4%, totaling US $ 2.41 billion. With regard to imports, these 3.7%, totaling US $ 0.84 billion, a move that led to a reduction of 16.5% in the trade balance, compared to the first two months of 2017, which closed the bimester at US $ 1.57 billion.
“This reduction is due to the decrease in exports of the sugar and alcohol complex, the main item of agribusiness in São Paulo, which in the analyzed period registered falls of 25% in volume and 38.9% in figures, explained Marli Dias Mascarenhas Oliveira and José Alberto Angelo, researchers of the Institute of Agricultural Economics (IEA) authors of the article, noting that the deficit of Sao Paulo’s foreign trade could have been higher had it not had the strength of agribusiness.
The IEA also analyzed industry data at the national level. The Brazilian trade balance recorded a surplus of US $ 7.67 billion in the analyzed period, with exports of US $ 34.28 billion and imports of US $ 26.61 billion. In the first two months of 2018, Brazilian agribusiness exports increased by 5.1% compared to the same period last year, reaching US $ 12.39 billion. Meanwhile, imports from the sector fell 2.1% to US $ 2.32 billion. The agribusiness surplus in January and February 2018 was US $ 10.07 billion, 6.9% higher than the same period of last year.