Brazil’s trade surplus in April soars pushed by commodities prices

Tuesday, May 3rd 2011 - 05:16 UTC

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Trade surplus estimate for the whole of 2011 was increased from 11bn to 15bn

The trade surplus rose to 1.86 billion USD last month from 1.55 billion in March, the ministry said. The figure compares with a 1.28 billion surplus in April last year. In the first four months of 2011 Brazil’s trade surplus totalled 5.03 billion USD which is up 132% over the same period a year ago.

Brazil’s exports rose 33% to 20.2 billion from the same month a year earlier, while imports jumped 31.9% to 18.3 billion. So far this year, exports from Latin America’s largest economy have totalled 71.4 billion USD, a 31.3% increase and imports by 27.1% to 66.67 billion USD.

The increase in Brazil’s exports in January and February was due to a 25.1% increase in price and an 8.6% increase in volume exported, according to data compiled by the central bank in its Quarterly Inflation Report, published March 30. The increase in imports over the same period was due to an 18.5% rise in volume, and a 10% rise in price, the bank said.

The Brazilian central bank raised its forecast for the 2011 trade surplus to 15 billion this year, from an earlier forecast of 11 billion. The Trade Ministry also announced it would revise its current target of exporting 228 billion USD this year.

Commodities prices rose 40.5% in March from a year earlier and 0.6% from the previous month, according to the central bank’s commodities price index.

Brazil’s current account deficit in March widened more than economists expected to the most since December 2009, fuelled by multinational companies remitting profits and trips by Brazilians abroad.

The deficit in the current account, the broadest measure of trade and services, widened to 5.7 billion in March from 3.4 billion in February, pushing the gap over the past 12 months to 50 billion USD, the central bank said last week.

Categories: Economy, Brazil.

Tags: Brazil, economy.

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GeoffWard
Annual deficit on current account of 50 billion USD seems a bit much.
People spending more than they are earning.
Is this what they call a Bubble?
May 03rd, 2011 - 10:30 pm 0
Forgetit87
Annual deficit of 50 billion dollars is not worrying for a 2.1 trillion dollars economy. A 2.3% current account deficit is entirely sustainable over the long term. Just compare Brazil with India or Mexico.

Plus, most of that deficit has nothing to do with people spending too much - it has to do with 1- their spending on cheap imported goods instead of domestically produced ones because the money is so cheap; 2 - growing investment levels, which always, everywhere in the world, increases demand for imported fixed capital goods.

As often, you don't know what you're talking about.
May 04th, 2011 - 02:50 am 0
Fido Dido
It doesn't even know how a real bubble looks like. Funny, how those kind of clowns could not see any bubbles (dot com, cheap credit, housing etc etc) in their own country and suddenly see every where bubbles. Of course he will claim that he did see it and forcasted when it would blow up.
May 04th, 2011 - 03:25 am 0

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