Foreign trade closes first half with a surplus of $7 billion

Brazil’s trade balance registered a surplus of $7.07 billion in the first half of this year. The surplus is the result of the difference between the total of $117.215 billion in exports and $110.142 billion in imports. The data was released today (July 2) by the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade.

In June, there was a surplus of $807 million. Exports totaled $19.354 billion, down 14.2%, compared to June last year. June imports reached $18.547 billion, with an average daily value of imports coming in at a record for the month. Compared to the same period last year, imports were up 1.1%.

Even with the surplus, there was an overall decrease in June exports, compared to the same period last year. All three categories of exports showed a decline: semi-manufactured (-22.37%), manufactured (-17.2%) and basic (-10.2% .)

There were decreases in imports of capital goods (-0.5%), consumer goods (-7.1%), along with raw materials and intermediate goods (-3.1%). On the other hand, there was an increase in international purchases of fuels and lubricants (+22.8%).