Rio De Janeiro, Jul 2 (UNI) Brazil’s trade surplus in the first half of 2019 reached 27.1 billion US dollars, down by 9.6 percent year on year, the Brazilian Ministry of Economy said on Monday.
Despite the decrease, the figure remained the third highest for the period in Brazil after figures in 2018 and 2017, the ministry said.
Exports totaled 110.9 billion dollars in the first half of the year, down by 2.63 percent year on year.
Imports amounted to 83.77 billion dollars, remaining stable compared to the same period last year.
The decrease in the trade surplus was mainly due to a fall in the price of Brazilian exports.
Though the volume of exports was higher than in last year, the lower price led to a reduction in the total amount generated by the exports.
According to the ministry, the average price of agricultural products fell 10.9 per cent, and that of goods produced by the transformation industry was down 4.7 per cent.
The average price of imported goods in the first half of 2019 fell 5.92 per cent while the volume of imports rose 7.14 per cent.
In June, trade surplus was 5.02 billion dollars, down by 13.3 percent.
Exports amounted to 18.05 billion dollars, while imports totaled 13.03 billion dollars.
