{"id":97425,"date":"2026-02-07T22:55:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T01:55:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/murray.adv.br\/?p=97425"},"modified":"2026-02-07T22:55:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T01:55:32","slug":"imports-slump-9-8-in-january-as-brazils-economy-cools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/murray.adv.br\/en\/imports-slump-9-8-in-january-as-brazils-economy-cools\/","title":{"rendered":"Imports slump 9.8% in January as Brazil\u2019s economy cools"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Drop in intermediate goods and fuel imports tempers second-best January trade surplus on record<\/strong><\/em><\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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02\/06\/2026\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Brazil\u2019s trade balance started 2026 with a $4.3 billion surplus, the second-best January result in the historical series, behind only the peak in 2024. However, both exports and, more sharply, imports fell compared to January 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Government officials and analysts said the steep drop in imports reflects the expected economic slowdown, though the magnitude seen in January is unlikely to persist throughout the year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Imports fell 9.8% in January, while exports declined 1%. As a result, even with the wider surplus (up from $2.3 billion in January 2025), overall trade volume shrank. Total trade reached $46 billion, down 5.1% from a year earlier, according to data released by the Foreign Trade Secretariat (Secex) at the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services (Mdic).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Herlon Brand\u00e3o, director of statistics and trade studies at Secex, noted that the volume of exports in January matched that of January 2025, a record year for shipments. On the import side, he said a slowdown is expected in 2026 due to \u201clikely weaker growth in domestic demand and the broader economy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Brand\u00e3o said import declines are likely to recur this year, though not necessarily to the extent seen in January.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Jos\u00e9 Augusto de Castro, president of the Brazilian Foreign Trade Association (AEB), said the depth of the import drop was surprising, driven by a 15% fall in intermediate goods. This category accounts for roughly 60% of Brazil\u2019s total imports. Fuel imports also fell 21.5%, and capital goods slowed, with a modest increase of 1.1%, according to Secex.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Economist Lucas Barbosa of AZ Quest said the data are consistent with a slowdown in domestic demand. \u201cHigh interest rates have weighed on investment, and industrial output data has been weak, especially in more cyclical sectors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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According to Brazil\u2019s national statistics agency IBGE, industrial production dropped 1.2% in December from November. From September to December 2025, output declined 1.9%.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A notable exception, Castro said, was consumer goods, whose import value rose 11.9% in January compared to the same month in 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Chinese cars<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Secex data show that this increase was largely due to Chinese car imports, which totaled $374.9 million in January, more than ten times the $31.7 million from January 2025. Excluding Chinese automobiles, Brazil\u2019s consumer goods imports rose just 1.5%.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Passenger cars stood out among January imports, totaling $564 million, more than double the $274 million a year earlier. About 65% of those vehicles came from China.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Barbosa of AZ Quest said the trade balance remains resilient and expects another strong year for Brazilian foreign trade, projecting a $75 billion surplus in 2026, up from $68.3 billion in 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cBrazilian exports continue to show strength not just in volume, but also in price,\u201d he said.\u00a0Beef exports remain strong,\u00a0<\/a>with revenue up 42.5% in January from a year earlier. Prices rose 10.8%, amplifying a 28.6% increase in volume.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gold exports also stood out, reaching $820 million in January, up from $404 million a year earlier. It was Brazil\u2019s ninth most exported product for the month, with prices up 75.8% and volume rising 15.4%.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Soy exports saw a significant increase of 91.7%, supported by a 9.2% gain in prices and a 75.5% surge in volume.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Not all commodities benefited from favorable prices. Oil and iron ore\u2014the country\u2019s top two export products\u2014fell by 7.8% and 8.6%, respectively. Oil declined in price, while iron ore saw drops in both price and volume.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Trade with key partners reflected recent global shifts. Economist Andr\u00e9 Val\u00e9rio of Inter noted that January continued the trends seen since the implementation of higher U.S. tariffs, with a 25.5% drop in exports to the United States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Even so, Brazil\u2019s trade deficit with the U.S. was just $670 million in January, helped by a 10.9% fall in imports of American goods, a shift not seen in previous readings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Exports to China jumped 17.4%, reflecting a gain in market share, especially in Brazilian agribusiness, which has taken advantage of a gap left by U.S. producers amid tensions between the two countries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cEven after the U.S.\u2013China agreement, in which China pledged to resume soybean purchases from the U.S., there has been no reduction in Chinese appetite for Brazilian soybeans. This suggests Brazil\u2019s market share gains could prove long-lasting,\u201d Val\u00e9rio said.<\/p>\n

*By\u00a0Mariana Andrade,\u00a0Guilherme Pimenta\u00a0and\u00a0Marta Watanabe\u00a0\u2014 Bras\u00edlia and S\u00e3o Paulo<\/p>\n

Source: Valor International<\/p>\n

https:\/\/valorinternational.globo.com\/<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Drop in intermediate goods and fuel imports tempers second-best January trade surplus on record       02\/06\/2026\u00a0 Brazil\u2019s trade balance started 2026 with a $4.3 billion surplus, the second-best January result in the historical series, behind only the peak in 2024. However, both exports and, more sharply, imports fell compared to January 2025. Government […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8106],"tags":[26745,26744],"class_list":["post-97425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-murray-news","tag-brazils-economy-cools","tag-imports-slump-9-8-in-january"],"yoast_head":"\nImports slump 9.8% in January as Brazil\u2019s economy cools - Murray Advogados<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/murray.adv.br\/en\/imports-slump-9-8-in-january-as-brazils-economy-cools\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Imports slump 9.8% in January as Brazil\u2019s economy cools - Murray Advogados\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Drop in intermediate goods and fuel imports tempers second-best January trade surplus on record       02\/06\/2026\u00a0 Brazil\u2019s trade balance started 2026 with a $4.3 billion surplus, the second-best January result in the historical series, behind only the peak in 2024. 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