Information about Brazil’s economic sectors
The Gross Value of Agricultural Production (GVP) in 2020 is expected to be R$771.4 ($148 bn), 10% higher than last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Based on the sector’s performance in August, crops resulted in R$519 billion ($99 mm), equivalent to 67.3% of GVP, and livestock, at R$252.3 billion ($48 mm), or 32.7% of GVP.
Cachaça is the second most consumed alcoholic beverage in Brazil, according to the Brazilian Institute of Cachaça (Ibrac). The drink represents 72% of the distillate market in the country. There were $14.45 million favourable to the balance of trade, exporting 7.26 million litres in 2019. A study by the Ministry of Agriculture in 2020 showed that there was a 9.73% increase in the number of products classified as cachaça in 2019.
Casa dos Ventos has signed protocols of intent with the government of Bahia, through the Secretariat of Economic Development (SDE), formalising the objective of establishing four wind farms in the state. The company estimates that it will generate 9,300 direct and indirect jobs in the operation and construction phases of the projects.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that Brazil and the United States had held consultations on their bilateral trade in ethanol and had entered into a partnership in this area. As a result, the countries decided to hold result-oriented discussions on an arrangement to increase access to the ethanol and sugar markets in Brazil and the US.
Brazilian agribusiness exports reached $8.91 billion in August, up 7.8% from the same period in 2019, driven by a 16.5% increase in the volume shipped, particularly soy and sugar, the Agriculture Ministry said. As a result, agribusiness accounted for more than 50% of the country’s total exports in the month, according to a survey by the Trade and International Relations Secretariat.
The three oil and gas production contracts on a sharing basis prospected 29,000 barrels per day (bpd) in July this year, a result 37% lower than in the previous month. The retraction reflects Mero’s scheduled 20-day pull-out of the line, according to the monthly Production Sharing Contracts Bulletin prepared by Pre-Sal Petróleo (PPSA).
The Brazilian government expects up to R$70 billion ($13.2 billion) to be invested in micro and mini distributed generation (MMDG) systems by 2030, for a total capacity of 24.5 GW, according to its most optimistic projections.
New unemployment insurance claims in Brazil fell sharply in August. New claims totaled 463,835 in August, economy ministry figures showed, down 18.7% from the month before and down 18.2% from August last year. This marks the third consecutive monthly fall in new claims since the record of nearly 1 million in May, although the total 4.99 million claims in the first eight months of this year is still up 7.5% on the same period a year ago, the ministry said.
Brazilian retail sales in July surged to their highest in almost six years, official figures showed, as the continued easing of lockdown measures across the country fueled another strong monthly rebound in activity. The 5.2% rise in retail sales excluding cars and building materials last month was more than four times the median forecast of a 1.2% rise in a Reuters poll of economists. On an annual basis, sales rose 5.5% in July compared with the same month last year, statistics agency IBGE said, more than double the 2.2% rise economists in the Reuters poll had expected.
This year’s fire season is worse than usual in Brazil’s Amazon region, where fires have begun spreading into areas of virgin forest. During the first week of September, more than 8,000 blazes were reported, about one-quarter of which are in virgin areas that have not been cleared or used as farmland.
