Brasilia/Sao Paulo Brazil's trade with the Arab world increased more than 28 per cent to $25.13 billion (Dh92.9 billion) last year and is expected to grow by up to 15 per cent this year, according to the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.
A Brazilian trade mission to the Middle East will arrive in Dubai today led by the Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade Commerce and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil).
The two-day mission will include a delegation of more than 47 companies in the food and beverage, agribusiness, housing and civil construction sectors to meet potential local investors.
"Market expansion is crucial for Brazil to keep its good foreign trade performance and it increasingly demands continuous contact with non-traditional markets," said Fernando Pimentel, Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade.
Trade surplus
Trade between the Arab world and Brazil showed a surplus in favour of Latin America's biggest economy in 2011.
Brazilian exports to the Arab world reached $15.13 billion in 2011, a 20.3 percent increase over 2010.
Brazil's imports from the Arab world totalled $9.98 billion — 43.6 per cent from the year before.
The top items that the Middle East imported from Brazil included sugar, which at $4.62 billion was up 19.8 per cent from the prior year, meat products worth $3.55 billion, up 9.98 per cent, and iron ore worth $2.97, a 34.82 per cent increase.
The Arab world also purchased grain valued at $1.17 billion — a whopping 96.83 per cent increase over the year before.
Saudi Arabia was the top destination for Brazilian exports at $3.48 billion, followed by Egypt at $2.62 billion and the UAE with $2.17 billion.
Brazilian exports to the UAE included cane or beet sugar and chemically pure sucrose ($483.4 million), raw cane sugar ($353.6 million), and iron ore and concentrates ($300.47 million).
Brazil's imports from the UAE totalled $3.09 billion and included jet fuel kerosene, sulphur and liquefied propane.
Regional gateway
"The UAE is important not just as a hub but as a gateway to the region," said Celio Porto, secretary of the Agribusiness International Relations under the Ministry of Agriculture, in a meeting with Dubai journalists in Brasilia ahead of the trade mission.
About 68 per cent of Brazilian exports to the UAE were agriculture products worth $1.4 billion, he added.
The UAE imported Brazilian coffee beans worth $10 million and ground coffee worth $8.4 million, he added. With soaring commodity prices last year, coffee prices rocketed, giving Brazilian world exports a caffeine boost.
The total value of Brazilian coffee exports increased 24 per cent last year while the quantity increased 1.5 per cent due to higher world coffee prices, he said.
The Brazil trade mission which was in Saudi Arabia on February 12, before coming to Dubai will also head to Abu Dhabi tomorrow in efforts to boost trade relations and attract foreign investments from the Gulf.
