Agribusiness exports totaled US $ 9.08 billion in March, up 4.1% from the same month last year, when sales were US $ 8.73 billion, reported Monday (09 ) the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MPLS). Imports of products from the sector reached US $ 1.29 billion (-6.9% below March 2017). As a result, the trade balance of the sector registered a positive balance in the order of US $ 7.79 billion. Agribusiness products accounted for 45.2% of total Brazilian foreign sales in the month, increasing almost two percentage points compared to March last year.
Products of vegetable origin contributed the most to the growth of exports of the sector, with an increase of US $ 417.08 million, mainly due to forest products, whose foreign sales were US $ 374.49 million higher. Other sectors were highlighted, such as juices (+ US $ 107.51 million); cereals, flour and preparations (+ US $ 93.55 million); tobacco and its products (+ US $ 78.84 million) and fiber and textile products (+ US $ 27.97 million). The soybean complex (44.3%), meat (14.8%), forest products (13.9%), sugar-alcohol complex (7.0%) and coffee (4.5%) were the highlights: . The five sectors account for 84.4% of the sector’s exports.
The soybean complex registered US $ 4.03 billion in exports in the month, which represented a decrease of 0.8% over March / 2017. The reduction in the quantity of grain (-1.8%), coupled with an average price of 1% lower, resulted in a reduction, in value, of 2.8%, from US $ 3.53 billion in March 2017 to US $ 3.44 billion, explains the Competitiveness coordinator of the MPLS Market Access Department, Luiz Fernando Wosch. Exports of soybean meal increased 16.8% to US $ 507.14 million, while soybean oil exports decreased 5.8%, at US $ 84.47 million.
Record
Meats ranked second in the ranking, reaching US $ 1.34 billion, practically the same amount recorded in the month of 2017. The main product of the sector was beef, whose sales were US $ 591.97 million, historical record for March. In relation to the same month in 2017, there was a 22.1% increase in sales, due to the increase of 24.1%, which offset the 1.6% decrease in the price.
Chicken exports dropped 9.7%, with US $ 580.59 million. In addition to the decrease in quantity (-1.6%), there was a decrease in the average price of the product (-8.2%). There was also a drop in sales of pork (-23.4%), due to both the contraction in the quantity shipped (-7.8%) and price (-16.9%).
Imports
Imports of agribusiness products fell by US $ 96.09 million compared to March 2017 and March 2018. The main products purchased by Brazil were: fish (US $ 142.72 million); ethyl alcohol (US $ 135.19 million); wheat (US $ 87.73 million); (US $ 78.73 million) and clothing and cotton textiles (US $ 58.35 million). In addition to fish and wheat, other products that had the largest reductions in imports were rice (-US $ 30.93 million); dairy products (-US $ 22.53 million) and malt (-US $ 15.24 million
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Asia remained the main destination region for agribusiness exports, totaling US $ 4.65 billion. The European Union occupied the second position in the ranking of economic blocks and geographic regions of destination of the external sales of the Brazilian agribusiness in the month. There was a 22.9% increase in sales to the market, mainly due to the increase in pulp exports (+ 162.6%); soybeans (+ 59.7%); orange juice (+ 38.8%); non-manufactured tobacco (+ 120.2%) and soybean meal (+ 12.9%).
Accumulated in the year
In the first quarter of 2018, Brazilian agribusiness exports reached US $ 21.47 billion, a figure that surpasses the result of the same period of last year, representing a record for results from January to March. This increase is attributable to the 6.7% increase in quantity shipped, since there was a 1.9% decrease in the price index. Imports declined 3.9% in the quarter, dropping from US $ 3.76 billion to US $ 3.61 billion, a performance explained mainly by the 3.8% fall in the quantity index, while the price index had slight decrease of 0.1%, according to Luiz Fernando Wosch. As a result, the agribusiness trade surplus increased from US $ 16.76 billion to US $ 17.86 billion, a record figure for January-March.
Result in 12 months
Agribusiness exports reached US $ 96.96 billion in the last 12 months, between April 2017 and March of this year. The number represents an increase of 13.5% compared to the US $ 85.42 billion exported between April 2016 and March 2017. The increase in exports was mainly due to the increase in the quantity exported, which increased by 13%. The index that measures the price of exports increased 0.5%.
Imports of agribusiness decreased from US $ 14.35 billion between April 2016 and March 2017 to US $ 14.01 billion between April 2017 and March 2018 (-2.4%). The fall of 9.6% in the price index of imported products explains to a large extent the reduction in the value of imports. The imported quantum, on the other hand, increased by 8.0%. The growth of exports with a concomitant reduction of imports made the agribusiness trade balance increase from US $ 71.07 billion registered between April 2016 and March 2017 to US $ 82.96 billion between April 2017 and March 2018.
The five main agribusiness export sectors in 12 months were: soybean complex (32.7% share in agribusiness exports); meat (15.9% share); forestry products (12.8% share); sugar-alcohol complex (11.8% share); and cereals, flour and preparations (5.8% share).
The Competitiveness coordinator of the MPLS Market Access Department observed that, in the list of the twenty largest agribusiness importers, there was growth in the acquisition of Brazilian products at rates above 30%: Egypt (+ 92.4%, US $ 2, 15 billion); Spain (+ 49.7%, US $ 2.12 billion); Bangladesh (+ 41.3%, US $ 1.51 billion); Vietnam (+ 33.6%, US $ 1.46 billion); United Arab Emirates (+ 33.5%, US $ 1.76 billion); and Hong Kong (+ 31.1% and US $ 2.67 billion).