Brazil's Import and Export Trade Surplus In 2015

Brazil posted a surplus of $19.681 billion due to the devaluation of its currency, despite a sharp drop in Brazil imports and exports 2015, the ministry of industry and trade announced Thursday.

Brazil's foreign trade totaled $362.587 billion in 2015. Among them, the value of exports was 191.134 billion us dollars, down 14.1% year on year.Imports were $171.453 billion, down 24.3 percent year-on-year.

According to the ministry of trade and industry, the main reason for the decline in exports is the sharp decline in commodity prices in the international market. Brazil's most important exports are iron ore, oil and soyabeans, which account for more than 80 per cent of the country's total exports. The sharp fall in imports, however, was largely blamed on a domestic recession that led to a 20 per cent fall in purchases of capital goods, intermediate goods and consumer goods. The fall in international crude oil prices has also cut the cost of fuel imports by nearly half.

In 2014, Brazil recorded its first trade deficit since 2000, with a deficit of $4.054 billion. Brazil's currency, the real, lost more than a third of its value in 2015, a big reason the trade deficit turned into a surplus.

China remains the top destination for Brazilian products, with $35.6 billion in exports to China last year, down 11.3 percent from a year earlier as prices for soybeans and iron ore fell. The United States is its second largest trading partner, with $24.2 billion in exports to the United States.

Brazil's economy is in recession. According to the latest report from Brazil's central bank, it may fall by 3.71% in 2015 and continue to shrink by 2.95% in 2016.The trade ministry forecasts a trade surplus of $35bn in 2016.