The Brazilian agribusiness trade balance data for April are now available. That month, the value of goods traded abroad reached US$ 14.7 billion, a 1% decrease when compared to the same period in 2022. The results followed a shrinking trend of the entire Brazilian exports. At the month’s end, agriculture and livestock products had a surplus of US$ 13.5 billion on its trade balance.
In April, the leading product in our agribusiness export line was soybean, which made up 52.7% of total exports and yielded US$ 7.7 billion in revenue, an increase of 14.6% compared to the same period in 2022. The second most exported product was soybean bran, which saw a decrease of 1.2% when compared to April 2022 and yielded US$ 893.2 million. The other noteworthy exports in the Brazilian agribusiness line were fresh chicken meat, cellulose, and fresh beef.
Brazil’s main export destination in April 2023 was China, with a share of 43.1%, followed by the European Union (11.7%) and the United States (5.5%). Other countries also had remarkable shares: Argentina (2.9%), Mexico (2.6%), Thailand (2.2%), South Korea (1.9%), Japan (1.8%), Bangladesh (1.7%), and Vietnam (1.6%).
Some destination countries showed a significant performance in April 2023 compared to April 2022. Among these countries, the highlights are Argentina (+148.6%), driven by soybean exports (an increase of US$ 262 million); and Mexico (+55%), also driven by soybean exports (an increase of US$ 84.4 million).
Trade balance highlight: fresh pork
Brazil is the world’s fourth-largest producer and exporter of pork. In terms of production, it is surpassed by China, the European Union, and the United States, while in exports the first three positions are held by the European Union, the United States, and Canada. In 2022, Brazilian exports were approximately US$ 2.4 billion, showing a decrease of 2.7% compared to the previous year. However, between January and April 2023, Brazilian exports reached US$ 837.5 million, representing an increase of 30.2% compared to the same period in 2022.
In the same period, exports totaled 338.1 thousand tons in volume, representing an increase of 14.8% compared to 2022. The performance in terms of value and volume represents the highest in the analyzed period, 2013-2023. In 2023, the top three destination countries for exports of fresh pork are: China (US$ 344.3 million; 41.1% of the total); Hong Kong (US$ 88.2 million; 10.5%); and Chile (US$ 63.3 million; 7.6%).