Brazilian agribusiness exports reached US$ 4.729 billion in the month of April and grew 37% when compared to the same period last year. As imports totaled US$ 622 million, the surplus was US$ 4.107 billion. Both exports and the trade surplus are record for months of April.
The figures were disclosed yesterday, May 8, by the Foreign Relations Secretariat at the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply. The sectors that contributed most to the increase in exports were the soy complex, meats, the sugar and alcohol sector, fruit juice, forestry products and cereals, flours and concoctions.
In the first four months of this year, agribusiness exports totaled US$ 16.515 billion. The figure is also a historic record for periods between January and April and means growth of 24.7% over the same period last year. The accumulated surplus this year has reached US$ 13.880 billion, with imports of US$ 2.635 billion.
Grain Crop
The national production of grain in the 2006/07 crop should reach 130.7 million tons, according to the latest study by the National Food Supply Company (Conab). The forecasts points at a new historic record due to an increase in productivity, caused by good climate conditions and the high technological level of crops.
Around 95% of the soy produced in Brazil, or 54.6 million tons, has already been harvested. The first maize and rice harvests go on up to September. Around 85% of the maize has already been picked (31.5 million tons) as has approximately 92% of the rice (10.3 million tons). The cultivated area in the country this crop should reach 45.84 million hectares.
Coffee Exports
Brazilian coffee exports yielded US$ 278.6 million in April, an increase of 24.4% compared with the same month in 2006. The data were disclosed today by the Brazilian Coffee Exporter Council (CeCafé).
From January to April this year, 8,908,921 bags of coffee were shipped, an increase of 16.8% over the same period last year. The growth in revenues in the first four months this year was 30.2%, with revenues surpassing US$ 1.2 billion.
According to CeCafé, Germany was the largest market for Brazilian coffee between January and April, with a 40.44% increase in exports, followed by the United States and Japan.
The Port of Santos, in the southeastern Brazilian state of São Paulo, shipped the most coffee during the period (5,896,381 bags), followed by the Port of Rio de Janeiro (820,850), in the state of the same name.
Anba
