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Brazilian exports set an all-time record in June, when they surpassed the mark of US$ 10 billion. The monthly surplus exceeded US$ 4 billion for the first time in the country's history.
These figures were announced in São Paulo by Brazil's Minister of Development, Industry, and Foreign Trade, Luiz Fernando Furlan.
With these results, the government will hold to its year-end target of US$ 112 billion. Exports over the past 12 months have totaled US$ 106 billion.
To reach the target, however, Furlan emphasized that it will be necessary to maintain a monthly average of around US$ 10 billion in the second half of the year.
In the second half of 2004, monthly exports averaged US$ 9 billion. "In the second half of the year, we face a much bigger challenge than in the first half," he observed.
Auto Industry Leads
Industrial goods represent over half of what Brazil sells abroad. "We are aggregating value to our products," affirms the Minister of Development, Industry, and Foreign Trade, Luiz Fernando Furlan.
The leading export sector continues to be transportation material, including automobiles, heavy trucks, auto parts, and agricultural machinery.
"The heavy truck and automobile sector is growing at a rate of 40% in relation to last year, when it had already grown 40%. We shall be doubling exports in two years," he commemorated.
Furlan recalled that commodities are mistakenly considered the "mainstay" of Brazilian exports. "Few people are aware that, in the first half of the year, one of the sectors that experienced a drop in exports was the soy complex, which exported US$ 10 billion last year," he said.
"It goes unnoticed that the profile of our exports is increasingly focused on industrial products. Over 55% of our foreign sales represent products with aggregated value."
In his forecast for the performance of the Brazilian economy ten years from now, Furlan is optimistic, stating that "Brazil will play an important international role in the areas of services, technology, engineering, informatics, telecommunications, and biotechnology.
ABr - www.radiobras.gov.br
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