Good morning! Today: Brazilian trade sees a bounceback in 2021. Bolsonaro’s re-election woes. And Brazil’s energy and water crises should add to economic pressures.
Brazilian exports jump 36 percent in H1 2021
A new report by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) shows that Brazilian exports responded well to a bounceback in the global economy led by progress in vaccine rollouts. Exports during the first half of 2021 amounted to USD 136.4 billion — up 36 percent relative to the same period last year.
Why it matters. The numbers indicate the economy may have turned the corner after the pandemic recession. Still, Brazil has a long way to go in boosting its trading profile — through free-trade deals and lifting import barriers.
Concentration. Brazil’s top five partners (China, the European Union, the U.S., Mercosur, and Japan) gobbled up 65 percent of the country’s exports, amounting to a value of USD 88.4 billion — the largest such sum in the first half of the year since 2016.
- China: Trade with China remains highly unbalanced, with 80 percent of Brazilian exports being raw materials such as soybeans, iron ore, and oil. That leaves the country excessively exposed to possible sanitary...