Santa Catarina, a state in the South of Brazil, has increased its exports to Mercosur countries, between January and September this year, by 27.79%, compared to the same period last year.
Sales from Santa Catarina to the economic bloc, which includes Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, reached US$ 388.5 million.
According to data from the Federation of Industries in the State of Santa Catarina (Fiesc), the products most sold to the Mercosur are refrigerators and freezers.
Sales of these products amounted to US$ 44.2 million in 2006. Then there is cardboard, with US$ 27.1 million, pork, with US$ 21.6 million, and clothing, with US$ 20.3 million.
Argentina is the largest buyer of Santa Catarina-made products in the Mercosur, accounting for over 70% of the state’s total sales for the economic bloc.
Santa Catarina imports from Mercosur countries also grew this year. The state purchased US$ 566.6 million worth of Argentine, Paraguayan, and Uruguayan products.
The amount is 16% more than recorded between January and September last year. Santa Catarina’s current trade balance deficit with Mercosur is US$ 177.9 million. Imports revolved around industrial inputs, especially raw material for the plastic industry, bottles, malt, and wheat.