Brazil’s trade surplus during the first ten months of 2005 surpassed the 2004 results, announced Tuesday the Brazilian Central Bank. By the end of October, the surplus was US$ 36,350 billion while in 2004 it had totaled US$ 33,696 billion.
Brazilian Central Bank estimates this year’s total surplus in US$ 38 billion, even when beef and pork exports have been hard hit by outbreaks of foot and mouth disease in the south of the country, which have prompted dozens of countries to temporarily ban imports of Brazilian produce.
In the January-October period, Brazil overseas sales of goods and services reached US$ 96.6 billion and imports US$ 60.3 billion.
However in spite of the excellent trade figures exporters are urging the government to contain the appreciation of the local currency against the US dollar, which they argue could hinder future sales. A strong currency makes Brazilian goods and services in US dollar terms more expensive abroad and costlier to produce.
Argentina also had a strong showing in foreign trade during September with a surplus of US$ 1.1 billion, a 2.4% increase over the same period a year ago. However, when comparing the first nine months of 2005 with the nine months of 2004, the surplus actually contracted 6.65%, according to the Statistics and Census Office.
Argentina’s January-September trade balance totals US$ 8.9 billion with exports reaching US$ 29.9 billion and imports, US$ 20.98 billion. September exports increased 16% to US$ 3.48 billion and imports jumped 30% to US$ 2.47 billion.
Manufactured goods and processed agriculture produce plus commodities kept expanding during September both in volume and value. Fuel and energy exports increased in value 10% because of stronger prices (43%) but declined considerably in volume, 23%.
In 2004 Argentina exported US$ 34.45 billion, with imports totaling US$ 22.32 billion and the overall trade surplus US$ 12.13 billion.
Mercopress – www.mercopress.com
