With the expansion of solar energy and demand for agricultural inputs, Chinese imports rise in Brazil

Driven by the expansion of solar energy and rising demand for agricultural inputs, Chinese imports grew this year and outpaced the average of Brazil's total imports.

Data from the Foreign Trade Secretariat (Secex/ME) show that, between January and August this year, imports of Chinese products totaled US$ 39.74 billion, up 35.1% compared to last year.

These imports increased mainly because of solar panels and equipment.

The reason is simple: China is, for now, one of the only suppliers of these items and sold Brazil around 95% of the photovoltaic panels the country imported between January and August.

This is basically because the Asian country has committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2060 and, for this reason, has bet on this type of renewable energy, developing technologies and, consequently, diversifying its exports.

At the same time, the solar energy market is booming in Brazil.

At the beginning of this year, our country surpassed the historic mark of 13 gigawatts (GW) of operating solar PV capacity in small and medium-sized systems installed on roofs, facades and land, and in large centralized power plants, according to data from the Brazilian Solar Photovoltaic Energy Association (Absolar).

According to the association, since 2012 solar power has brought more than R$ 66.3 billion in new investments to Brazil, R$ 17.1 billion in tax revenue, and created more than 390,000 jobs. As a result, it has also avoided the emission of 14.7 million tons of CO2 in electricity generation.

Inputs

Still on the subject of Chinese imports, agricultural inputs such as insecticides and fertilizers accounted for US$ 4.46 billion from January to August this year.

According to experts, the increased demand for this type of material is due to shortages of these products in several countries, which were intensified by the war between Ukraine and Russia.

As a result, the volume imported from the Asian country rose 13% this year.

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