Brazil-China Trade Hits Record US$143.3 Billion in 2026

Trade between Brazil and China reached record figures in the first nine months of 2026, cementing the Asian country's position as Brazil's top export market and its largest source of imports. Brazilian exports to China grew 12% to US$84.7 billion, while imports rose 9.9% to US$58.6 billion, pushing total bilateral trade to US$143.3 billion between January and September.

Brazil posted a trade surplus of US$26.1 billion with China, driven mainly by soybeans, crude oil and iron ore. Crude oil exports jumped 49% to US$21.8 billion, boosted by both a 27% increase in shipped volumes and a 17% rise in prices. With this performance, China came to account for half of Brazil's total crude oil exports, and crude now represents close to 26% of Brazilian sales to that market, trailing only soybeans.

Beef exports fell 8.5% to US$5.5 billion after reaching the annual quota of 1.1 million tonnes China imposes on this product. By contrast, sales of chicken meat and its derivatives rose 113% in value and 86% in volume. Emerging products also stood out, such as sorghum, with exports of US$170 million, and spodumene, a lithium-bearing mineral, whose sales surged 339% to US$172.3 million, with China absorbing the bulk of both shipments.

On the import side, Chinese electrified vehicles took center stage. After a steady rise in the first half of the year, shipments fell in July and August, coinciding with Brazil's increase in tariffs on these vehicles to 35%, before recovering in September. Over the nine-month period, imports of Chinese electrified vehicles totaled US$5.9 billion, close to 10% of total imports from China, with plug-in hybrids growing 89% to US$2.87 billion and battery electric vehicles advancing 341% to about US$2.4 billion.

Despite the records, the pace of growth in Brazilian exports to China showed signs of slowing compared with previous months, after a year-on-year increase of 22 percent had been recorded in July.