Brazil July trade surplus misses forecasts as volumes fall

In the first seven months of the year, Brazil's trade surplus rose 31.9% from the same period a year earlier to $49 billion. The ministry expects a full-year surplus of $90 billion.

As a net oil exporter, Brazil has benefited from higher crude prices triggered by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

From January through July, Brazilian exports to China, the country's largest trading partner, jumped 19.7%, while shipments to the U.S., its second-largest export market, fell 12.2% amid tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, which announced a new round of duties on Brazilian goods in late July.

China accounted for 31.6% of Brazil's exports during the period, while the U.S. share fell to 9.6%.

BRASILIA, Aug. 6 (Reuters) - Brazil's trade surplus reached $7.1 billion in July, official data showed on Thursday, falling short of expectations in a month when higher prices accounted for the increase in exports and imports, while trade volumes contracted on both sides.

The trade balance of Latin America's largest economy nearly matched the $7.0 billion surplus recorded a year earlier, but came in below the $8.4 billion surplus forecast by economists in a Reuters poll.