(MENAFN- Brazil-Arab News Agency (ANBA)) São Paulo – Brazil's machinery and equipment exports were down in February and the first two months of the year, the Brazilian Association of the Machinery and Equipment industry (ABIMAQ) reported on Wednesday (27). Revenue from the industry's domestic consumption, imports and exports reached BRL 19.2 billion (USD 3.9 billion) in February, up 16.7% from January but down 14% from a year earlier. Year to date, the machinery and equipment industry grossed BRL 35.7 billion (USD 7.2 billion), down 17.5% from a year earlier. (Pictured, manufacturing of semitrailer part.)
ABIMAQ Economy and Statistics analyst Leonardo Silva believes the industry tends to grow post-Carnaval, but one has to wait the March results to have a better forecast for the rest of the year. He added that despite recent declines, the Selic benchmark interest rate is still on a high level, thus impacting investment and the industry.
Trade-wise, February posted USD 829.4 million worth of exports, down 21.4% from January and 23.2% from February last year. Year-to-date exports reached USD 1.8 billion, down 9.2% from the same period last year. Some countries that drove down the results were fellow South American countries Argentine and Bolivia.
Brazil imported USD 2.1 billion worth of machinery and equipment, up 12.4% year on year and won 7.2% month on month. The role played by China as the leading supplier of the industry, responsible for 30.9% of machinery imported by Brazil. In 2007, China accounted for 6.9%, ABIMAQ says. The United States, Germany, Italy, Japan, and South Korea complete the list of leading machinery exporters to Brazil.
Smaller prices and drought on some crops in Brazil impacted the industry results, Chamber of Agricultural Machinery and Implements (CSMIA) president Pedro Estevão Bastos said. Bastos said the industry is structurally well but faces conjunctural challenges like droughts and low commodity prices. The industry also includes agricultural machinery, whose exports and imports were down, grossing BRL 4.2 billion (USD 843 million) in February, up 30.8% from January but down 28.2% from February last year.
Arab countries increased their purchase of Brazilian machinery in 2023 year on year, but a more detailed study has to be carried out to assess their results in 2024. According to ABIMAQ Foerign Market Executive Director Patrícia Gomes, the Middle East and North Africa's leading importers last year through October were the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
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