China-Brazil trade down 6 percent
Rio de Janeiro: Trade between Brazil and China fell six percent in 2014, Brazilian trade ministry figures showed, after 2013 saw a peak. Recent years have seen China overtake the United States as Brazil’s leading trade partner on soaring demand for commodities including iron ore and soy, but a fall off in that demand dampened trade over the past 12 months.
The Brazil-China Chamber of Commerce noted in Rio that bilateral trade totalling $77.9bn was down from $83.3bn a year earlier but added the latest figure was still above the 2011 and 2012 results. In 2004, the figure was just $9.1bn. Brazilian exports of $40.6bn were down 12 percent on 2013 while imports to Latin America’s largest economy from the Asian giant hit $37.3bn, a rise of 0.1 percent, giving Brazil a bilateral surplus of $3.2bn. China was the destination for 18 percent of all Brazilian exports, down from 19 percent in 2013. In 2010, China’s share was 15 percent. AFP
