Arab Countries Increasingly Important for Brazil’s Export Market, Strong Growth Seen

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – (MENAFN – Brazil-Arab News Agency) Exports from Brazil to the Arab countries reached US$1.2 (R$4.8) billion in July, up 27.4 percent from a year ago. It was the best monthly performance so far in 2019.

The Department of Market Intelligence of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce reported that shipments of some products saw the best result for July during the last ten years. This is the case for chilled beef, refined oil, turbo propellers, and other gas turbines.

Year-to-date through July, sales from the country to the region grossed US$ 7.1 billion, up 16.9 percent from a year ago, while overall Brazilian exports slid by 4.7 percent year-on-year.

The Arab countries combined were one of the leading destinations of Brazilian products year-to-date, third behind only China and the United States. Poultry, sugar, iron ore, beef, and corn accounted for over seventy percent of the shipments from Brazil to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) year-to-date.

The survey by the Arab Brazilian Chamber also points to strong growth in exports of gold, live cattle, turbo propellers, other gas turbines, refined oil, iron and steel plates, and tubes.

For cattle, six out of Brazil’s ten largest markets abroad are Arab countries: Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabi, and the UAE. The same is true for iron and steel plates and tubes: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Algeria, Oman, and Iraq are among the top ten buyers of these goods.

In absolute figures, the top markets in the region year-to-date were the United Arab Emirates, at US$ 1.3 billion; Saudi Arabia, at US$ 1.2 billion; and Egypt, at US$ 1.02 billion.

Sales to the UAE climbed by 20.4 percent from a year ago. Shipments to Algeria, Oman, Bahrain, Iraq, and Libya were also up.

On the other hand, Brazilian imports of items from the MENA region (Middle East & North Africa) climbed 9.4 percent year-to-date through July from a year ago, to US$ 4.2 billion.

As in the case of exports, overall foreign purchases slid. Therefore, the Arab bloc increased its share both as a purchaser and a supplier for Brazil.

Brazil’s largest suppliers were Saudi Arabia and Algeria, accounting for 58 percent of Brazil’s total imports from the region year-to-date, the Arab Brazilian Chamber reported.

It’s worth noticing, however, the performance by UAE, whose exports to Brazil climbed 168 percent year-to-date through July from a year ago, to USD 375.8 million. Morocco and Egypt also saw a significant increase in their sales to Brazil.

As per the Arab Brazilian Chamber survey, the strengthening of trade was accompanied by an increase in Brazilian and Arab companies operating in bilateral ventures, which shows an increased “attention that trade opportunities triggered in Brazil’s and Arab’s entrepreneurs.”

(Source: MENAFN – Brazil-Arab News Agency)