|
 Brazilian agribusiness exports totaled US$ 58.4 billion in 2007, an increase of 18.2% compared with the previous year. Imports by the sector stood at US$ 8.7 billion, an expansion of 12%, resulting in a surplus of US$ 49.7 billion, the highest ever recorded, according to data disclosed January 15 by Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply.
According to the Ministry, some of the factors that drove the performance were the growth of global economy in the last five years, which led to a greater international demand for foodstuffs, and the rising price of several commodities. The Ministry also informs that the use of agricultural products for biofuel production has also contributed for the increase in prices.
Foreign sales of soy, the main item in the export basket, totaled US$ 11.38 billion. At a close second came meats, with exports of US$ 11.29 billion, an increase of 30.7% compared with 2006.
The growth, according to the Ministry, was influenced by strong demand from Asian and Middle Eastern countries. The greater demand led the amount of meats shipped to increase 15.5% and prices to grow 6%, in the case of bovine meat, 24% for raw chicken meat, and 2.9% for pork meat.
The ministry highlights the recovery of chicken meat sales, after a period of depressed market conditions due to fear of avian flu. Chicken meat exports totaled US$ 4.2 billion last year, 44.3% more than in 2006.
Another highlight, according to the Ministry, was corn. Brazil shipped 10.9 million tons of the product, an expansion of 178% compared with 2006. The average price of corn also grew, from US$ 117 to US$ 172 per ton.
One of the most traditional segments in Brazilian agribusiness, however, saw a decrease in product prices. The increased international market supply, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, led sugar and alcohol prices to decrease from US$ 327 to US$ 263 and from US$ 587 to US$ 523 per ton, respectively.
The leading destination for agribusiness exports was the European Union, to which sales totaled US$ 20.8 billion, a 31.1% rise. Next come the Asian countries, with US$ 11.2 billion in imports; North America, with US$ 7.3 billion; the Middle East, with US$ 4.7 billion; Africa, with US$ 3.8 billion; Latin American nations outside of the Mercosur, with US$ 2.6 billion; and the Mercosur member nations, with US$ 1.7 billion.
The leading buyer countries, still according to the Ministry, were the United States, with US$ 6.4 billion in imports; Holland, with US$ 5.4 billion; China, with US$ 4.6 billion; and Russia, with US$ 3.3 billion.
Retail Sales
The sales volume and revenues from retail in Brazil grew 1.6% in November compared with the previous month, as disclosed January 16 by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). The Monthly Trade Survey points to a recovery from the negative results posted in October (-0.1% for both sales volume and nominal revenues).
In November, sales volume had its second highest rate in the year. In comparison with the same month last year, it grew 9.9%, accumulating 9.7% during the year and 9.2% in the 12-month period ending in November (annualization). For nominal revenues, the rates were 13.3%, 11.6% and 10.9%, respectively.
Of the five activities surveyed, four recorded growth in sales volume between October and November: fuels and lubricants (1.5%); furniture and household appliances (1.4%); textiles, clothing and shoes (1.6%); and hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco (0.8%). There was a decrease in sales of vehicles and motorcycles, parts and components (-0.9%).
Anba/ABr
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
The small, coastal town of Condé is located just a twenty minute's drive from João Pessoa, the capital of Paraíba. The Northeast of Brazil has historically been a place of encounter and mixing between peoples. For millenia groups of indigenous people fished, farmed, migrated and sometimes fought along this large, fertile area. 
The Brazilian diplo-MÁ-cia (bad diplomacy) carries on its accelerated course towards the non-acknowledgment of human rights, although sometimes it takes pleasure in saying that it does precisely the opposite. The visit of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is another example of a diplomatic omission that verges on hypocrisy. 
On July 4, 2006, representatives of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay met in Caracas to sign the protocol for the entrance of Venezuela into the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). After two and a half years, the protocol was approved by the legislative bodies of Argentina and Uruguay, and as of now it may be only days away from being ratified by the continent's economic megalith, Brazil. 
Some sectors of the fight against AIDS have suggested that Thabo Mbeki, the former president of South Africa, committed genocide through his absence from the fight against the illness in his country throughout his two terms. 
One hundred and eleven years after Brazil abolished slavery, the number of workers deprived of their freedom is still huge. They raise cattle, produce charcoal, sugar cane or timber. Some of them, most undocumented Bolivians, work in basements of small apparel factories in São Paulo and other metropolis. 
On November 7, 2009 a few friends and I had an opportunity to take a look inside a Brazilian jail outside the city of Rio de Janeiro. We were able to take some amateur footage of our experience on video (see link below). It's no surprise, of course, that the typical Brazilian jail lacks some of the functionality of those in North America or Europe, but our experience that day was quite shocking. 
Depletion of the Amazon Rainforest is not a new concern facing environmentalists, biologists, ecologists, and a growing number of the Amazonian indigenous peoples. For decades they have feared for the fate of the world's most biologically diverse and species-rich hothouse. 
Geisy Arruda made history this week in Brazil, but for all the wrong reasons. What began as a poorly planned fashion statement has become a worldwide tale. Geisy decided to wear a pink mini-dress to her private college in São Paulo state, and after that, all hell broke loose. 
The push of vigilante groups in Rio de Janeiro's favelas (shantytowns) in the last three years is the most important and alarming information of the just-released study by the Rio de Janeiro University's Violence Research Center (Nupev-Uerj). 
A dispute over drug trafficking territory in Rio de Janeiro has intensified lately, leaving in its wake unprecedented acts of violence, such as the downing of a police helicopter in the northern zone of the city on October 17. Three policemen died and another two were injured. This event has drawn the attention of the international media, who are raising the issue of public security for the 2016 Olympics to be held in Rio.
Lets face it, the Brazilian thinking is that US$ 10.- in their pocket is better than a reduction of ONE undernourrished citizen !
Be proud to be Brazilian !