The mineral industry in Brazil produced 1.150 billion tons last year, a 7% increase over the 1.073 billion tons produced in 2020. The sector’s global revenue reached R$ 339 billion, up 62% from R$ $209 billion the previous year. The Brazilian Mining Institute (Ibram) released the information. Iron ore accounted for 74% of the sector’s global revenue in 2021, compared to 66% in 2020, followed by gold (8%) and copper (5%). The data show that national mineral exports grew 58.6%, from US$36.5 billion in 2020 to US$58 billion in 2021. Mineral imports increased 120.8 % last year, from US$ 4.1 billion to US$ 9.1 billion. In 2021, Brazil exported 357.7 million tons of iron ore, vis-a-vis 341.6 million tons in the previous year. The main destinations for Brazilian iron ore were China (68%), Malaysia (6.4%), and Japan (3.6%). On the other hand, the main product imported by the sector was metallurgical coal, increasing 25% in tons. The leading supplying countries for this product were Colombia (27%), the United States (26%), and Australia (24%).
Sources: Agência Brasil/Datamar News