Brazil’s July trade balance posts USD 7B surplus
With exports of USD 34.1 billion and imports of USD 27.1 billion, Brazil recorded a trade surplus of just over USD 7 billion in July. The data were released on Thursday (Aug. 6) by the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services. Trade flow (the sum of exports and imports) totaled USD 61.17 billion during the period, representing a 6.8 percent increase compared with July 2025. Both…
In July, Brazil's trade balance demonstrated a surplus of nearly USD 7 billion, as reported by the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services on Thursday, August 6. The data revealed exports totaling USD 34.1 billion and imports totaling USD 27.1 billion. Throughout the month, trade flow, encompassing both exports and imports, amounted to USD 61.17 billion, marking a 6.8 percent increase compared to July 2025.
Both exports, which rose by 6.2 percent, and imports, which grew by 7.6 percent, experienced an uptick in comparison to the same period in the previous year.
Notably, agricultural exports witnessed a significant increase of 9.3 percent, primarily fueled by soybean exports, which surged by approximately USD 870 million. Within the extractive industry, crude oil exports soared by USD 960 million, while fuel oil exports in the manufacturing sector also increased by USD 960 million. Notably, export growth in fuels exceeded 63 percent.
Imports for July were primarily driven by a surge in petroleum fuel oil purchases, amounting to USD 500 million, and growth in the sales of automatic data-processing machines and their units, medicines and pharmaceutical products (excluding veterinary products), thermionic, cold-cathode, or photocathode valves and tubes, diodes and transistors, and ethylene polymers in primary forms, each surpassing USD 290 million and USD 150 million, respectively.
The trade balance results indicated that China, with shipments totaling over USD 10.7 billion, remains Brazil's principal trading partner for the month, representing nearly one-third of the overall exports. This figure marked an 8.6 percent increase compared to July 2025. The United States ranked second in terms of trade volume, accounting for 10.7 percent of Brazilian exports in July, although this figure experienced a 5 percent decline from the same month in 2025.
The reduction in trade with the US does not yet account for the impact of the newly implemented tariff hike by the US government, which took effect on July 22 and is anticipated to influence August sales, with further data set to be released in early September. Additionally, Brazil's exports to Argentina declined last month by nearly USD 230 million, or 13.9 percent compared to July of the previous year, amid heightened tensions between the two neighboring nations following Argentine President Javier Milei's criticisms of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Consequently, Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs opted to downgrade diplomatic relations with Buenos Aires.
On a year-to-date basis, spanning from January through July 2026, Brazil's trade balance recorded a surplus of USD 49 billion. The year-to-date figures demonstrated that exports surged to USD 218.6 billion, representing a 10.5 percent increase compared to the same period last year, while imports rose to USD 169.5 billion, marking a 5.5 percent growth from the previous year. The overall trade balance for the year-to-date period amounted to a surplus of USD 49 billion.
Written by urgent.news from Agencia Brasil's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
