The impacts of the new coronavirus in China are already beginning to be felt in Brazilian exports. In January alone, there was a deficit of US$ 1.57 billion in exports to the Chinese after surpluses in recent years in the month, according to the Foreign Trade Indicator (Icomex) of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV).
According to the agency, there was a decline of 2.5% in exported volume and 6.4% in prices. By product, the biggest drops were recorded in soybeans and oil. In the case of imports, the change in volume was positive (3.4%), but prices fell by 3.8%. The Asian giant is the biggest buyer of Brazilian products.
“A new fact is the coronavirus epidemic in China. Projections for Chinese growth this year under the effect of this epidemic range from 5% to 6%. The coronavirus, together with the effects of the agreement between China and the United States, points to a drop in commodity prices for the coming months, and a decline in the volume imported by China”, said FGV.
The trade balance with the United States was also in deficit (US$ 847 million) with a drop in exports of 28.8% in value and 23.2% in volume and 7.3% in prices. In imports, a positive change was recorded in value (+8.7%), volume (+8.4%) and prices (+0.4%).
Source: DATA
