Trade balance grows 21% and gets to US$ 4.1 bi
Valor Econômico - 01/20/2009
The Brazilian production of pulp ended 2008 with an increase of 7.7% over the previous year, according to estimates reported yesterday by the Brazilian Association of Pulp and Paper (Bracelpa), entity that gathers the main companies of the sector. The companies produced 12.85 million tons of pulp last year. Out of this total, the industrial sector exported 7 million tons of raw material for the manufacturing of paper - which is equivalent to US$ 3.91 billion in foreign sales, an increase of 23.5% compared to 2007. Europe continues being the main destination of the Brazilian export of pulp, representing 2.02 million tons, an increase of 25%, followed by North America, which purchased 791 million tons (increase of 27%). Asia was the region with the greatest level of increase in the exports, with 63%, reaching 690 thousand tons of pulp. In the trade balance, the industry of paper and pulp installed in the country was responsible for a surplus of US$ 4.126 billion - growth of 21.2% over the previous net result. The exports of the sector amounted to US$ 5.83 billion and the imports to US$ 1.71 billion. The survey made by Bracelpa also shows a slight increase in the Brazilian consumption of paper fragments. In 2008, the entity estimates consumption reached 3.7 million tons, an increase of 1.6%, below the growth rates of production (1.9%) and domestic sales (2.2%) of papers. In spite of the effects of the crisis after September not having shaken the projections for 2008, the production of pulp last year put Brazil in the fourth place among the major producers, ahead of traditional producers such as Sweden and Finland.