Therefore, between January and March, exports added unprecedented US$19,343 million (+25.5% annual or +US$3,396 million). The previous maximum for this same period had been verified in 2012.
Although the rise in prices, driven largely by the war between Russia and Ukraine, was the main factor that explained the level of international trade, the Ministry of Economy also highlighted that the quantities exported were the second highest in history. .
In the segmentation by items, those that shot up the most in annual terms during the first quarter were foreign sales of fuels and energy (+94%). Shipments of primary products (+57.7%) and manufactures of industrial origin (+32%) also grew strongly. The only division that showed a fall was manufactures of agricultural origin (-4.2%).
Regarding the types of products, Those that had the greatest impact on additional exports compared to 2021 were cereals (+84.6% or US$2,112 million), crude oil (+207.3% or US$653 million) and chemical products (+65.9 % or US$616 million).
The main destinations during the first quarter were:
- Brazil (12.7%)
- United States (7.5%)
- Chile (6,6%)
- China (6,5%)
- Netherlands (5.5%)
At the same time, in the third month of the year, imports totaled some US$7,073 million, due to an annual increase of 16.7% in quantities and 13.7% in prices.
In this way, in the accumulated of the first quarter a historical sum of US$17,958 million (+39.5% or US$5,083 million).
The imports that rebounded the most versus the first quarter of 2021 were those of fuels and lubricants (+190.7%). Those of intermediate goods, the item with the highest participation in the total, climbed 32%. Only purchases of vehicles and auto parts fell (-16.5%).
By type of products, the increases with the highest incidence were those of manufactured industrial supplies (+US$1,509 million or 39.9%), manufactured fuels and lubricants (+US$1,374 million or 296.8%), and capital goods, excluding transportation equipment (+US$549 million or 31.9%).
The main suppliers in the first quarter were:
- China (24,5%)
- Brazil (19.2%)
- United States (8.3%)
- Germany (3.5%)
- Paraguay (2,6%)
Due to the greater relative increase in imports, The trade surplus slowed to $279 million, the lowest level since December 2020.
