Brazil’s Agribusiness Had Banner Year with US$ 60 Billion Trade Surplus

Papaya plantation in Brazil The agribusiness sector in Brazil should end this year with a US$ 60 billion trade surplus, equivalent to growth of US$ 10.3 billion compared with the surplus recorded in 2007. The figures, supplied by the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, also show that this year, foreign agribusiness sales should reach US$ 72 billion, an all-time high in the sector's history.

According to the Foreign Relations secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Célio Porto, the steady growth of agribusiness exports and of the trade surplus are consequences of the fact that in recent years, Brazil has proven itself capable of seizing opportunities to break into new markets.

For that reason, Porto believes that even in the face of the financial crisis, the country will continue to be a leading exporter of agricultural products. "Whenever prices go down, as is the case now, few countries are as competitive as Brazil is and, historically speaking, national agriculture has always perceived depreciated exchange as a form of encouragement," he explained.

To the Foreign Relations secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, 2008 was a great year for the sector. The high prices of foodstuffs, prior to the world economic crisis, have helped the country to attain record-high exports.

Porto points out as contributing factors to high pricing, besides speculation, key factors such as the rising demand in Asia, especially in China, the effects of climate change on agriculture, the use of agricultural products, such as corn and oleaginous plants, for production of biofuels in United States and Europe, respectively, and low inventories.

In order to insert agribusiness into the foreign market even further, the Foreign Relations Secretariat promoted, in 2008, 22 international missions turned to commerce and meetings with agricultural sector authorities.

"We started with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, in February, and ended with China, in December," said the secretary.

He highlights the trips taken to Japan, the United States, South Korea and Russia. In the area of support to foreign missions, the Secretariat received 23 visits, among them those of the ministers of Agriculture of Japan, Masatoshi Wakabayashi, and of Russia, Alexey Gordeev.

The schedule of the Secretariat in 2008 also included participation in four Agricultural Advisory Committees (AACs) with Indonesia, the United States, Canada and South Korea, and in meetings of 18 committees or workgroups of Codex Alimentarius, with work yielding good results in the fields of dairy products, meats, oils and sugar.

Anba

Tags:

You May Also Like

Brazil’s Pork Exports Zoom Up 136%

Earnings from Brazilian pork exports rose 136% in the first two months of 2005, ...

Summit Between Arabs and Brazil & South America to Discuss Education and Tourism

The League of Arab States' secretariat-general has set up a committee especially dedicated to ...

Lula: ‘Brazil Won’t Play a Supporting Role Anymore!’

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, addressing an audience made up of dozens ...

Spain Invests US$ 74 in Brazilian Tourism

The Prime Minister of Spain, José Luiz Zapatero, disembarked yesterday in BrasÀ­lia to pay ...

Presenting Rio Favelas as a Testament to Brazilian Ingenuity

A survey completed in four American and one Canadian cities reveals a huge disparity ...

Brazil Hosts World Congress to Fight Child Sex and Pornography

Brazil will host the World Congress against sexual exploitation of children and Adolescents in ...

Brazil’s Petrobras Workers Go on Strike and World’s Oil Prices Zoom Up

As if oil prices weren't high enough with Middle East tensions, market speculation and ...

4.4 Million Brazilians Are in College, a 27% Jump

According to a new study, the Gains of Education on the Labor Market, higher ...

Lula Says Brazil Remains Committed to Haiti and Will Probe General’s Death

In a note, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva expressed profound sadness at ...

Brazzil? What Is It All About?

Created in April of 1989, BRAZZIL has been a national respected link between Brazil ...