LatinNews Daily - 7 August 2024

*Brazil’s ministry for industry and trade has released its trade figures for July, showing a surplus of US$7.64bn. This marks a 19.7% increase compared to June, but a drop of 6.6% compared to July last year. The total value of exports in July 2024 came to US$30.92bn, up 9.3% year-on-year, while the total import value came to US$23.28bn, up 15.7% from July 2023. The annual rise in imports in July was mainly driven by imports of agricultural products, with a monthly import value of US$480m, up 35.9% in yearly terms. However, Brazil’s agricultural exports were also up in July, with an export value of US$7.23bn, up 8.3% year-on-year. In terms of export destinations, monthly exports to Brazil’s largest trade partners, aside from Argentina, showed yearly rises in July. Exports to China, Hong Kong, and Macau showed a total value of US$10.26bn (+16.3%), exports to the European Union (EU) totalled US$4.17bn (+20.0%), and exports to the US came to US$3.55bn (+15.3%). The monthly export value to Argentina came to US$1.17bn, down 27.8% from July 2023.