As a consequence, the trade balance for the month reached a US$ 989 million surplus, and the surplus for the year stands at US$ 6.358 billion, as a result of US$ 25,158 billion in exports, which increased by 15% compared with the same period last year, minus US$ 18.8 billion in imports, 25.2% more than in 2006 using the same basis of comparison.
Brazilian exports yielded US$ 10.104 billion in February, a 15.5% increase compared with the same month last year. Imports that month amounted to US$ 7.226 billion, a 21.4% increase. The trade balance recorded a US$ 2.878 billion surplus.
Pará
Exports from the State of Pará, in northern Brazil, increased approximately 40% in 2006, leading to a US$ 6 billion trade balance surplus, a historic record high for the State. Pará ranks eighth in the Brazilian foreign trade ranking, and has the country's third largest trade balance surplus, second only to the states of Minas Gerais and São Paulo, both in southeastern Brazil.
With these figures, Pará is above the national growth average, which was 16.20% in 2006. The data were included in the Balança Comercial Paraense (the trade balance of the state of Pará) study for 2006, and were disclosed recently by the president of the Federation of Industries of the State of Pará (FIEPA), José Conrado Santos.
According to the survey, the main products in the export basket in Pará include minerals, highlighting alumina, the raw material for aluminium. In 2005, alumina exports surpassed US$ 422 million. Last year, sales of the commodity amounted to US$ 922 million, which represents a 118% increase. Other minerals for which exports increased were: copper (71%); aluminium (49%) and pig iron (36%).