The Brazilian trade balance recorded a trade surplus of US$ 4.713 billion in March, a decrease of 5,2% compared to the same period of the previous year, according to the published figures on the afternoon of this Wednesday (01.04.2020) by the Secretariat of Foreign Trade (Secex) of the Ministry of Economy.
From January to March, trade exchanges accumulated a positive balance of US$ 6.135 million, 33,1% less than in the same period of 2019.
The Exports totaled US$ 19.239 billion last month. There was a 4.7% drop on the performance of the same month last year. The Imports reached US$ 14.525 billion y fell by 4,5% in March 2019.
Last month, exports of basic products fell by 0.6% compared to the same month in 2019. Sales of semi-manufactured products abroad increased by 6.1% on the same comparison basis and those of manufactured products fell by 14.9%.
On the import side, purchases of capital goods rose by 2,8% in March compared to the same month last year, and those of intermediate goods increased by 3,5%. Consumer goods fell by 19,3% and fuels and lubricants by 32,5%.
World trade
The Brazilian agency estimates that the country's trade balance result, in the first quarter of this year, was influenced by slow global trade, aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the document, countries have adopted "severe measures» to reduce the rate of contagion and social isolation actions affect approximately one third of the world's population.
“China, Brazil’s largest trading partner, adopted social isolation measures at the end of January. The European Union and other countries adopted social isolation, with greater or lesser restrictions, in March, mainly in the second half of the month,” says Secex.
China
The Brazilian agency points out that Brazilian exports to China grew one 4,3% in the quarter compared to the same period last year, mainly due to higher sales of beef and pork, iron ore, soybeans and cotton.
China remains the main destination for Brazilian exports, followed by the United States, Argentina, the Netherlands and Singapore.
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