Brazil Aug corn, iron, sugar exports surge

Brazil's trade surplus in August slipped from a year earlier as imports grew faster than exports, but several of its main commodity exports remained strong or even surged, the trade ministry said. Brazilian white sugar exports, mostly 150 ICUMSA, jumped in August to over 1 million tonnes, up from the 852,200 tonnes in July and the 574,100 tonnes a year ago.  VHP Raw sugar shipments were also strong, at 2.211 million tonnes during the month, against 2.048 million tonnes in July and 1.530 million tonnes a year earlier. 

Iron ore exports jumped to 29.834 million tonnes on strong Chinese demand, from 25.578 million tonnes in July and 23.298 million tonnes a year earlier.  Corn exports surged also to 1.19 million tonnes last month the biggest month since December 2009, up from the 286,000 tonnes in July and 372,200 tonnes a year ago.   Crude oil exports also put in a strong showing in August with 2.902 million tonnes shipped against 1.504 million tonnes in July and 3.324 million tonnes a year before.  Soybean exports totaled 2.966 million tonnes in August down from the strong performance in July of 3.999 million tonnes but up from the 2.980 million a year before.  Brazil'S trade surplus BRTBAL=ECI narrowed to $2.44 billion last month from $3.05 billion in August 2009.  Exports totaled $19.23 billion in August against $17.67 billion in July and $13.84 billion in the year-ago period.  In May, Brazil's government announced long-awaited measures to boost exports, including creating a lender, EXIM Brasil, to help in trade financing.  Brazil is the world's leading exporter of coffee, sugar, ethanol, meats and concentrated orange juice. It is also a major soybean, corn, iron ore and pulp and paper exporter. In the table below are the main commodity exports by quantity for Brazil for August, according to data released by the trade ministry's foreign commerce secretariat.

Source: Reuters