The Brazilian agricultue ministry said the result represented a significant increase of 21.2 per cent compared to May last year. Imports of agribusiness products, on the other hand, had fallen by 14.1 per cent, with record $1.34 billion in acquisitions abroad.

The trade balance of agribusiness products was $8.92 billion.

In the last 12 months, the trade of agribusiness abroad grew by 17.9 per cent to $97.4 billion. Imports reached $17.4 billion between June 2011 and May 2012, an increase of 13.9 per cent.

The strong rise in exports led to a surplus of $ 80 billion in the period. The agribusiness trade balance was prepared by the Secretariat of Agribusiness International Relations, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply, from the data of the Ministry of Development, Industry and Trade.

From June 2011 to May 2012, the soy complex (grain, meal and oil) was the main export sector, with foreign sales rising 41 per cent from $19.3 billion to $27.2 billion.

The sugar and alcohol complex was in second place, with exports of $ 15.9 billion (+13.2 per cent).

The other three main sectors were meat ($ 15.9 billion, +9 per cent), forest products ($ 9.4 billion; -1 per cent) and coffee ($ 8.2 per cent, +14.3 per cent). These five major sectors had growth of share of total exports from 78.2 per cent to 78.6 per cent.

The soy complex, primarily responsible for the increase in cumulative sales in 12 months, had increased sales by $7.9 billion, representing 53.4 per cent of the increase of $14.8 billion in total exports. Other sectors also made important contributions, such as sugar and alcohol complex, which expanded by $1.8 billion in sales in the period, meats, which have increased by $1.3 billion and coffee, an increase of $1 billion.

China continues to the leading importer of Brazilian agribusiness products. In the last 12 months, China has increased imports of Brazilian agriproducts by 59.7 per cent, expanding its share from 14.4 per cent to 19.6 per cent. If Hong Kong with 2.2 per cent of the imports and Taiwan with 1.3 per cent are included, China reached has a 23.1 per cent market share. European Union has a 24.1 per cent share of the market.