Brazilian companies that work with foreign trade are looking forward to a possible increase in coronavirus cases in the country. Contacts between national and foreign businesspeople, especially from China and other Asian countries, will be made more via telephone, e-mail or videoconference than in person.
The president of the Brazilian Foreign Trade Association (AEB), José Augusto de Castro, said today (27) to Agência Brasil, that China (the country that concentrates the largest number of cases and deaths from coronavirus) will undergo a major reshuffle and this will cause a major blow to Asian nations, especially with regard to new products, “because they are not sold by photography”.
Castro said that currently, “as far as possible”, companies are trying to export. “Unfortunately, today, the coronavirus is what is saying what needs to be done.” It is not enough to simply export or import, he said.
Commodities
Castro explained that a greater supply of products on the international market will put downward pressure on the prices of commodities (agricultural and mineral products sold on the foreign market) and manufactured goods will be affected due to the quantity.
“As Brazil does not have a competitive price in manufactured goods, the trend is that it will be affected due to the coronavirus”, he analyzed.
AEB is projecting a drop in imports because the demand from the domestic market is expected to be lower than expected, given a lower growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – the sum of all goods and services produced in the country. Exports are also expected to fall because this new virus is spread around the world, Castro said.
Internally at the companies, Castro said there was no work interruption. “Nobody stopped working because of the virus. The problem is on the outside. ” Castro explained that companies want to buy from China and China cannot deliver. This implies an interruption of trade flows. “This generates a question about what will happen”.
As coronavirus cases are reduced in both Europe and the United States, the president of the AEB assured that Brazilian businessmen will continue to go to these markets, which will remain open. As for China and other Asian countries, Brazilian businessmen will think twice before traveling to these destinations, “unless there is a very sudden change in the scenario that is today”. Companies are adapting as new news comes out, he said.
Source: Agência Brasil