$7.4 billion: that was Brazil's trade surplus in August, the best result for the month in three years, the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services (MDIC) reported on Friday (Sept. 4). In practical terms, the country sold that much more abroad than it bought, and the dollars stayed with exporters, from soybean farmers to oil companies. The result was 23.8% higher than in August last year, when the surplus was $5.97 billion.
Exports totaled $33.15 billion, up 12.2% by daily average (a comparison that adjusts for the number of business days), while imports reached $25.76 billion, up 9.2% in the same measure. Total trade flow, exports plus imports, hit $58.9 billion, the highest for any August in the historical series, according to state news agency Agência Brasil. At this week's exchange rate, near 5.10 reais to the dollar, the monthly surplus is worth more than 37 billion reais.
In brief: the trade balance compares what Brazil sells abroad (exports) with what it buys from other countries (imports). When sales top purchases, the result is a surplus; when the reverse happens, a deficit. It is the same math a household does at the end of the month: if more money comes in than goes out, savings are left over.
What drove the result
Crude oil led foreign sales, at $4.82 billion, up 18%. Next came soybeans ($4.41 billion, up 14%), green coffee ($1.1 billion, up 24.1%), iron ore ($2.35 billion, down 10.8%) and corn ($1 billion, down 25.3%). Beef exports fell 19.7% because Brazil hit the annual quota of 1.106 million tonnes set by China, which charges a 55% surcharge on anything above that limit.
By destination, the standout was the European Union: sales rose 46.4%, to $5.8 billion. Sales to the United States grew 12.1%, to $3.19 billion, despite Washington's extra tariffs, which combined can reach 37.5%. Sales to China, Brazil's largest market, fell 10.9%, to $8.34 billion.
The trade deal between the Mercosur bloc and the European Union, in effect since May, may have contributed to the surge in sales to the bloc, said Herlon Brandão, head of the MDIC's foreign trade statistics department. "We have reports from exporters who are indeed benefiting from the agreement in this period," he said. According to him, it is still too early to measure the precise effect of lower tariffs.
A strong year so far
Even while selling more, Brazil ran an $824 million deficit with the United States in August, as purchases of American goods, at $4.01 billion, topped sales. So far this year, the gap with the U.S. totals $3.21 billion. Overall, the January-August surplus stands at $55.3 billion, 28.2% above the $43.2 billion recorded in the same period of 2025, the second-best result for those months since records began in 1989.
Imports of consumer goods rose 15% in August, a sign that Brazilians bought more foreign products. In July, the MDIC raised its 2026 surplus forecast from $72.1 billion to $90 billion. Analysts surveyed by the Focus bulletin, a weekly Central Bank poll of financial institutions, are more cautious and project $78 billion.