Exports from Rio Grande do Norte grow 143%

 

Exports from Rio Grande do Norte grow 143%

Rio Grande do Norte recorded a volume of US$ 137.4 million in exports in the months of January and February 2022, an increase of 143.6% compared to the same period in 2021. historical series, which began in 2011. Data are from the Ministry of Economy. Diesel oil exports are responsible for a large part of this growth (40% of the total).

According to the International Business Center (CIN) of the Federation of Industries of the State of Rio Grande do Norte (Fiern), exports of melon, watermelon, sugar, salt and fish come next, with the highest values exported and all with positive evolution compared to last year. Fiern also highlights that sales abroad grew if compared only to the months of January and February of this year. In this case, the increase was 37.4%.

The numbers also point to an increase of 172% if compared only the month of February this year with the same period last year. In addition to the items highlighted by Fiern, products such as cotton fabrics, papaya, precious stones, plastic sheets, lobsters, dried fruits and cashew nuts contributed to the good performance of RN in exports in the first two months of 2022.

The technical manager of the Fiern International Business Center, Luiz Henrique Moreira Guedes, explained that “diesel oil has been a very important factor in the behavior of exports and that is why it is important to demonstrate the growth of the State with and without it”. The manager of Business, Innovation and Technology at Sebrae-RN, David Góis, says that the export of diesel oil is linked to Petrobras negotiations and that the thermometer to assess how the local scenario is going are the other products.

“We had a 7.7% increase in melon exports and we doubled the volume of watermelon exports in this period. We also had an increase in sugar and salt. These are products that reflect the dynamics of our economy”, points out Góis.

The data, according to him, give a dimension of the export scenario in Rio Grande do Norte and the capacity of the local market to continue rising. “The growth dynamics indicate that our suppliers and companies are in a position to increase volume from the rise of the dollar. This makes our companies earn more with the exchange rate issue, which impacts the number of jobs and the circulation of money in the economy”, he reports.

For this month of March, the expectation is that there will be no negative effects on exports in Rio Grande do Norte, even with the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. “There should be no negative effect in March due to the conflict. The melon harvest is at the end and there is usually a sharp reduction for this product and also for watermelons in this period, returning in September”, explains Guedes, from Fiern.

“If [the conflict] goes on for a long time, there may be repercussions later on, but it is very difficult to predict, especially if we talk about the trade balance as a whole. One of the most palpable effects is the increase in the price of wheat, an important item in our imports. But, in general, the specific markets of Russia and Ukraine are not relevant for RN”, added Guedes, then.

For David Góis, from Sebrae, RN will also not feel the effects of the war between the two Eastern European countries. “Europe primarily consumes fruit. These are products already contracted by the importers there. Our other products are more directed to the United States, such as fish and lobsters. Not to mention that the US is not directly involved in this conflict. I do not identify, in our list, products that may suffer from these problems in Europe”, underlines Góis.

According to him, it is unlikely that the RN's trade balance will suffer any impact from the conflict in the coming months, since, he believes, the consumption of fruits and other food products should increase in some regions. Expectations are generally positive.

“We do not have the details of the contracts signed by the large fruit companies there in Mossoró or Vale do Açu, however, with the rise in the dollar and this growth in the first two months of the year, we are optimistic that this agenda will continue to grow. . Sebrae's effort is to increase our export base and also the added value of exported products. We are together with partners working in this direction”, he highlights.

Source: Tribuna do Norte, Abrafrutas