Brazil is to reach a trade surplus with China this year above USD 50 billion, almost double the value in 2022, as its exports grow and imports from the Asian country drop.
Last year, Brazil had a surplus of USD 28,684 billion in trade with China and this year, as of November, the balance in trade totaled more than USD 46.8 billion, the largest in the historic series prepared by the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services (MDIC), since 1997.
The surplus gained from a 14.1% rise in Brazilian exports to China, which totalled USD 91.382 billion between January-November, 30.7% of the total volume of the country´s sales in the period. Imports of Chinese products fell -13,5%, to USD 48,556 billion, 21.9% of Brazilian global imports in the period.
Brazilian trade with China is strongly concentrated in the exports of primary products, of lower added value. By November, three of these products – soya, oil and iron ore – accounted for 76% of the total volume shipped by Brazilian companies to China.
In fact, only one manufactured product, cellulose, appears in the ratio of the main goods shipped by Brazil to China. Soya, oil, iron ore and cellulose showed expressive export growth from January to November and beef, with a drop of -30% was the only top category with decline.
Soya sales grew by 20% (USD 6.2 billion) and totalled USD 37.2 billion, with a 39% share of shipments to China, while oil exports grew 25.2% to USD 18.3 billion, iron ore generated a revenue of USD17.1 billion, a slight increase of 1.7 per cent, while beef, exports totalled USD 5.2 billion, despite a strong 30% decline. Shipments of cellulose totalled USD 3.4 billion, an increase of 14%, compared to the same period of 2022.
Chinese exports to Brazil, composed exclusively of industrialized goods, are sprayed into a wide range of sectors and products.
Overall, Chinese sales had a decline of -13,5% until November and all five major items shipped to Brazil recorded falls that ranged between -33% and -0,9% in the period.
Exports were led by thermonic valves and tubes (USD 5 billion and a drop of -23%); telecommunications equipment (USD 3 billion and -22%); organo-inorganic compounds (USD 2.4 billion and reduction of -4.8%); other products from the processing industry (a drop of 0.90% to USD 2.4 billion); and fertilisers (-33% to USD 1.46 billion).
