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 The Brazilian trade surplus - exports minus imports - in the first week of August, with five business days, reached US$ 295 million. Exports totaled US$ 4.553 billion and imports reached US$ 4.258 billion. The figures were disclosed September 8 by the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade.
In the accumulated result for the year so far, the trade surplus is US$ 17.202 billion, a much lower figure than recorded in the same period of 2007, which was US$ 28.665 billion. From January until the first week of September, exports reached US$ 135.3 billion, and imports, US$ 118.1 billion.
The reduction in trade surplus is a result of imports growing at a faster rate than exports, as the lower dollar value favors product imports.
Record Crop
Brazil has just finished harvesting the largest grain crop in its history. The information was disclosed by the Brazilian National Food Supply Company (Conab). A survey ran by the Conab points to a crop of 143.87 million tons, 9.2% larger than the previous one.
A total of 58.5 million tons of corn were harvested, growth of 14%. For soy, the figure was 1.66 million tons, growth of 2.8%. The wheat crop grew 71% to reach 3.82 million tons. The leading Brazilian producer states were Paraná, with 21.1% of the total, followed by Mato Grosso, Rio Grande do Sul and Goiás.
The result should boost Brazilian exports. By the end of this year, Brazilian shipments to foreign countries should total to 52.1 million tons of corn, soy, bean and cotton. As of July, exports of these products had already generated revenues of US$ 13.29 billion to the country.
Planted area for grains has also grown. It has risen from 46.21 million hectares to 47.36 million hectares. The cultures that grew the most within the planted area were corn and soy, according to information supplied by the Conab. Crop volume may be even higher after the off-season corn harvest in the Northeast, which should be concluded this month.
ABr
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