Trade balance records surplus of US $696 million in the second week of July

The Brazilian trade balance had a surplus of US $696 million in the second week of July, according to this Monday (15) The Ministry of Economics. The surplus is recorded when exports exceed imports, generating a positive balance for Brazil. When the opposite happens, a deficit is recorded. According to the Ministry of Economics, in the second week of the month, exports totaled US $4.226 billion, a decline of 2.63% compared to the same period of 2018. Imports totalled US $3.531 billion, the same value recorded in the period 2018. In the month, the balance records a surplus of US $1.819 billion, resulting from US $8.766 billion in exports and US $6.947 billion in imports. Exports According to data from the Ministry of Economics, the daily average of exports of the second week of the month was 6.9% below the average recorded in the first week of the month. This decrease was mainly due to the reduction of 49.6% in the exports of semi-billed goods and the decline of 11.2% in the sale of manufactured products. The export of basic products grew 10.3%, with emphasis on crude oil, manganese ore, maize, soybean and iron ore. Imports The daily average of imports from the second week of July grew 3.4% compared to the average of the first week of the month. The result is mainly explained by the increase in the costs of fuels and lubricants, mechanical equipment, organic and inorganic chemicals, medical instruments of optimum and precision, copper and works.