Deficit in the trade balance of chemical products retreats 16.3% in the first five months of 2023
According to Abiquim, between January and May 2023, flows of chemical products resulted in imports of US$ 25.9 billion and exports of US$ 6.3 billion — decreases of 15.3% and 11.9%, respectively. , compared to the same period last year.
Despite the drop in the trade balance deficit, considerable increases were registered in the imported physical quantities of thermoplastic resins (31.5%), synthetic fibers (20.8%) and various chemical products (5.0%).
Exports between January and May 2023 were US$ 6.2 billion, with 5.8 million tons. The falls are respectively 11.9% and 9.2%. According to Abiquim’s Director of Economics and Statistics, Fátima Giovanna Coviello, the drop in exports is due to the current context of commercial difficulties that Argentina is facing.
“We are having difficulty exporting products to Argentina due to the internal problems they have been encountering. So, we reduced our exports by 9.7% to Argentina and Argentina is our market, our main partner in Mercosur”, he says.
The director also points out the lack of an agenda for the sector in the country as obstacles.
“To improve this whole situation, the chemical industry needs an innovative structuring agenda, which sees Brazil as a national project of sustainable industrial development, in the medium and long term. It is also essential and urgent to be very concerned about our trade policy. We need to prioritize the immediate resumption of regular tariff levels and the fight against import surges, which are completely deteriorating our production capacity. Today we are running with 33% of idle capacity in the chemical sector”, he says.
Tax incentives for the chemical industry
Abiquim points out that, even with a smaller deficit in the first five months of 2023, the accelerated growth in the volume of imports puts pressure on the industry and threatens national manufacturing itself. The director of Economics and Statistics at the entity highlights the importance of the Special Regime for the Chemical Industry for the sector.
“The withdrawal of Reiq and the tariff cuts, aggravated by the reductions in LETEC for thermoplastic resins, were particularly felt by strategic groups of chemical products, — which resulted in important increases in idleness of their installed capacities. However, an opportunity to transform this scenario is reflected in the progress of the Gas to Employ Program, announced by the National Council for Energy Policy (CNPE), which can make Brazil more competitive, attracting countless investments that have been dammed up for some time, helping to reindustrialization of the country, one of the goals of the current government”, points out Fátima Giovanna.
Reiq was created with the aim of promoting and increasing the competitiveness of the sector in Brazil. According to the president of the Joint Parliamentary Front for the Competitiveness of the Productive Chain of the Chemical, Petrochemical, Plastic and Final Chemical Sector, Deputy Afonso Motta (PDT-RS), Reiq is essential for the segment. He says that the sector generates 2 million direct and indirect jobs in the country and has revenues of over US$ 200 billion a year.
“The Chemical Industry Parliamentary Front is working to restore the full amount of the Reiq, which is the special regime for the chemical industry. Reiq is the one that guarantees incentives and, without a doubt, works a lot with the issue of competitiveness. So take a good look at the size of the industry, Brazilian chemistry and the importance it has in this context”, he says.
At the end of 2022, the National Congress overturned ‘veto 32’, which revoked the maintenance of the Reiq until 2027. With the overthrow of the veto, the text that had already been approved by the Chamber and the Senate came into force again, restoring the gradual end of the King
Abiquim believes in a resumption of the chemical industry in 2023
By Brasil 61
