Brazil's agricultural exports to China up 52.5 percent in March

Brazil's agricultural exports to China registered a 52.5 percent increase in March, totaling 598.8 million U.S. dollars, Brazil's Agriculture Ministry said on Thursday.

These figures made exports to China accounted for 12.5 percent of its total agricultural exports in March, up from last March's 8.5 percent.

Agricultural exports to China in the first quarter of 2009 were up 31.9 percent compared to the same period last year.

Brazil's total agricultural exports totaled 4.79 billion U.S. dollars in March, up 0.3 percent from the amount registered in the same period last year.

Besides China, Brazil also registered increase in exports to India, Morocco and Iran, among other countries.

Significant increases in March's agricultural exports were registered in soy products (soybeans, oil and flour), with a 40.9 percent increase, sugar (49.5 percent), coffee (48.8 percent) and orange juice (29.3 percent).

During the April 2008 to March 2009 period, agricultural exports totaled 70.5 billion U.S. dollars, up 16.5 percent from the previous 12 months period.

Source: Xinhua