Chemical industry trade deficit grows 4.9% on year

The chemical industry''s trade deficit was $ $12.7 billion year to date, up to July, up 4.9 percent over the same period to 2016. The negative balance is a result of imports of $ $20.4 billion in products and exports of $ $7.6 billion.
In terms of volume, external purchases of chemicals totaled 24.8 million tonnes between January and July, an increase of 23.6% over a year earlier. Have shipments grew just 1.4%, to 9.7 million tonnes.
In the opinion of the Chief Executive of Abiquim, Fernando Figueiredo, the chemical sector trade balance may worsen with the Brazil''s economic recovery. "With the recovery of the economy, which is obviously something for which we all hope, will never grow, and consequently, imports will grow exponentially. The Government needs to work urgently on an industrial policy to stimulate investment in Brazil, so we turn to be raw material exporters and importers of finished products ".