Brazil posted a record trade surplus for November driven by booming exports, with emphasis on sales to China, which grew 35.6 per cent.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the trade surplus reached US$6.7 billion in November, beating a US$5 billion surplus expected by economists in a Reuters poll. This was the strongest result for the month since 1989.
Exports jumped 30.5 per cent over the same month in 2021, to US$28.2 billion.
They were helped by a 35.6 per cent increase in sales to China, which ensured a 0.2 per cent year-to-date growth in exports, reversing the 1.8 per cent drop seen in the January-October period, said Herlon Brandao, undersecretary of foreign trade statistics.
As Brazil’s main trade partner, China was expecting to see in November the first shipments of Brazilian corn since a new bilateral trade protocol entered into force.
According to the ministry, total corn exports rose 222.3 per cent in November from the same month last year. Oil sales also posted a strong 124.9 per cent expansion in the period, while sugar exports rose 69.8 per cent.
In contrast, Brazilian imports were down 5.5 per cent over November 2021, totaling US$21.5 billion.
So far this year, the trade balance surplus reached US$58 billion, up from US$7.4 billion in the same period last year.
