Brazil has surplus with China again
O Estado de S. Paulo
The global crisis inverted the trend of the commerce between Brazil and China and turned the deficit into surplus. Brazil accumulated a strong credit balance of US$ 2.8 billion with the Chinese from January until the second week of June. In the first half of 2008, the deficit of the bilateral trade was at US$ 1.5 billion, according to the Secretariat of Foreign Trade (Secex). Two factors explain the change in the commercial relations with the Asian dragon: the replenishment of the stocks of commodities in China, which stimulated the sales of iron ore and soy beans, and the fall of the industrial production in Brazil, which caused the fall of the importation of Chinese components and machines.
In spite of the crisis, which reduced the pace of growth of the Chinese economy, the Brazilian exports to China sustained an increase of 34.5% from January until the second week of June. Thanks to the good performance of the commodities, the Chinese became the Brazil's main trade partners in 2009. The sales of iron ore, main product in Brazil's export agenda to China, increased 97% from January to May. In the case of soy, the increase amounted to 27% in the period. The earnings obtained with export of oil to China fell 41%, because of the lower prices, but the volume shipped increased 70%.
The imports from China took the opposite direction. After increasing 59% in 2008, the purchases of Chinese products retracted 23.5% from January until the second week of June. Due to the decline in the industrial production, Brazil imported, for example, US$ 652 million less in electric components and devices from China from January to May, what means a 27% retreat. The imports of Chinese machines and mechanic devices also fell 23%.