Deficit in chemical products is expected to hit a record with US$32,1 billion in 2019

In the year to date, up to October, imports of chemical products totaled US$37,6 billion and exports reached US$10,5 billion, respectively an increase of 4,9% and a decrease of 6,9% compared to the same period of 2018. As a result, the deficit in the trade balance of chemical products, between January and October, totaled US$ 27,1 billion, which represents a growth of 10,4% in relation to the same period of the year.

Fertilizers and their intermediaries remained, between January and October, the main item on the list of chemical imports, accounting for 20,9% of total imports in value (US$7,8 billion) and for 66,6% of quantities imported (26,4 million tons). Thermoplastic resins, in turn, were the main chemical products exported by the country, with sales abroad of US$ 1,5 billion, a strong reduction of 11,6%, in the context of the slow pace of international trade marked by the worsening trade tensions between the USA and China and the unstable economic situation experienced by Argentina, the main trading partner in chemical products.

In October, specifically, Brazil imported US$4,3 billion in chemical products, a value that represents an increase of 1,4% compared to the same month of the previous year, while the value exported, of US$1 billion, meant a reduction of 21,8% in the same comparison.

According to projections by the Brazilian Association of the Chemical Industry – Abiquim, by the end of the year a deficit of more than US$ 32,1 billion should be recorded, the largest sectoral record since the beginning of monitoring of the trade balance in chemical products, which dates back to 1991, a fact that corroborates the centrality of Abiquim's concern regarding the process of international commercial insertion of the Brazilian economy.

By December, imports are expected to total US$45,2 billion, while foreign sales are US$13,1 billion, respectively an increase of 4,3% and a reduction of 4,2% in relation to 2018. In terms of volumes, in turn, movements of 48,6 million imported tons and 13,6 million exported tons should be recorded, respectively increases of 7,6% and 1,1%, in the same comparison.

For the director of foreign trade affairs at Abiquim, Denise Naranjo, the record results of the trade balance in the year reiterate that the chemical sector is already one of the most open in the Brazilian economy and emphasize that the correct dimensioning of time and gradualism in insertion are essential. international, through a dialogued and transparent process, conditioned on increasing competitiveness with the structural reforms of the Brazilian economy, guaranteeing a safe and predictable business environment. “Both the present and the future of the entire Brazilian industry, especially the chemical industry, are on the agenda and this is exactly why the chemical sector defends an international insertion process supported by an economic and regulatory impact assessment, dialogued, transparent and conditioned to progressive reduction of the “Brazil Cost”, and which includes the agenda of expanding the network of international trade agreements with strategic partners, implementing management tools that promote the modernization of customs procedures and eliminating technical barriers to Brazilian products on the market international”, highlights Denise.