Antonio Dominquez, managing director of Maersk Line East Coast South America Cluster said: “We are seeing growing demand for our export products and we believe imports will continue to improve during the rest of the year even if it is from a very low base.”
Imports
For imports in general the first quarter showed really low statistics for maritime container imports. However, it has improved from April on, with steady improvement in May and June. It was also mentioned that the reduction in the decline of imports between April and June were related to the political situation in Brazil. The national mood lifted as Brazil anticipated a new direction in government policy from the new interim leader.
Exports
Exports are at record levels at the moment, even though growth has slowed down. João Momesso, Head of Trade and Marketing for Maersk Line in the East Coast of South America, explains that the Real´s appreciation has little to do with slowing down the exports. “Brazilian products remain competitive and there are fresh opportunities for cotton, poultry, beef, plastics and sugar especially in Asian markets. The real bottleneck for exports is that the available vessels are full and that will not change until imports fully recover.” He doesn't see this happening before 2017.
Some industry segments of reefer products show double-digit growth in the second quarter. However the fruit and vegetable and plant industries shows a negative number -18.1%.
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