Islamic Inspection Service - SIILHalal

Sales from Brazil to the region fetched USD 1.2 billion in the first month of 2019, up 18% from a year ago.

Exports from Brazil to Arab countries amounted to USD 1.2 billion in January, up 18% year-on-year. This was the best result for the month in ten years, according to numbers from the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce Market Intelligence Department.

Shipped volume was up 9% to 4.3 million tons. Arab countries took in 6.4% of exports from Brazil in the first month of 2019.

In light of January results, Arab Chamber analysts are optimistic about coming months. “On the basis of export seasonality over the last ten years, we can expect even stronger exports throughout the year, with numbers growing bigger as months go by,” reads a Market Intelligence Department report. This is so because January, usually a weaker month, saw a much better result than the average from the last ten years.

Demand for Brazilian goods is seen picking up, especially in Gulf countries, on the back of factors including demographic growth, growing tourism, and heightening per capita GDP.

The leading destinations of goods from Brazil in that region were the United Arab Emirates, at USD 344.500 million, Saudi Arabia at USD 157.2 million, Egypt at USD 146.6 million, Morocco at USD 98.3 million and Oman at USD 97.8 million. Markets whose purchases widened the most year-on-year in January were Libya, up 829%, Iraq, up 187%, and the UAE, up 146%.

Top-selling items included poultry, at USD 174 million, maize at USD 164 million and sugar at USD 154 million. Aircraft sales to the UAE grossed USD 138 million, and iron ore accounted for a relevant share of sales.

Imports

Conversely, imports of Arab goods to Brazil came out to USD 597 million, down 2.4% year-on-year. Import volume slid by 5% to 1.4 million tons.

Brazil’s leading Arab suppliers were Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, accounting for a combined 71.3% of total imports. Imports also increased significantly from the UAE (197%) and Oman (183%).

The most imported items were mineral fuels and fertilizers, with purchases of the former dropping and those of the latter increasing sharply “in connection with an expected pickup in [Brazilian] agricultural output in 2019.”

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