Brazilian exports of printing material increased 60.21% in the first half of the year in relation to the same period last year. The sector exported US$ 143.75 million against US$ 89.7 million in the first six months of 2005, according to information from the Department of Economic Studies (Decon) of the Brazilian Printing Industry Association (Abigraf).
The product that contributed the most to the performance was the notebook. The industry of notebooks had export revenue of US$ 54.13 million between January and June this year, 157.84% more than in the same period in 2005.
According to information released by Abigraf, one of the reasons was the increase in restraints by the United States in relation to imports of Chinese products.
"The Brazilian printing material has quality and competitive price and, little by little, is gaining space on the international market," stated the president of Abigraf, Mário César de Camargo, according to a statement released by the entity.
The producers of packaging and wrappers also increased their revenues with exports by 15.71% in the period, with US$ 33.87 million.
Imports in the sector also increased boosted by the appreciation of the Brazilian real in relation to the United States dollar. They reached US$ 94.16 million in the first semester of the year, value 16.31% above to the same period in 2005. Purchases of packaging from outside Brazil, for example, increased by 65.36% and totalled US$ 9.07 million.
Even so, the country had a positive surplus in the segment’s trade balance. The difference between imports and exports was favorable to Brazil in US$ 49.59 million, 298.69% greater than the total in the same period last year, when it was at US$ 12.44 million.
The figures released by Abigraf are based on information by the Foreign Trade Secretariat (Secex) an organization connected to the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade.
Anba