The Brazilian trade balance registered the lowest result for the month of March in six years due to its imports of oil platforms. Brazil exported US$ 1.482 billion more than it imported in March, 63% less than in March 2020 according to the daily average criterion, and the lowest balance for the month since 2015. With the March results, the YTD trade balance reaches a surplus of US$ 1.648 billion for the first quarter of 2021, the smallest balance for the period since 2015. In that year, the balance had registered a deficit of US $ 5.577 billion in the first three months. In March, exports totaled US$ 24.505 billion, an increase of 27.8% by the daily average in relation to the same month last year. Due to the purchase of oil platforms, imports reached US$ 23.023 billion, an increase of 51.7% since the same month last year. The Ministry of Economy’s Foreign Trade Secretariat revised its projections and increased the trade surplus forecast for 2021 to US$ 89.4 billion, which would set a new record. The previous estimate, released in January, was $ 53 billion. According to the Ministry of Economy, the sharp rise in the price of commodities recorded in recent months will contribute to the improvement of the trade balance.
Source: Agência Brasil/Datamar News