A drop in coffee exports and an increase in vehicle imports caused Brazil’s balance of trade to record its lowest surplus for March in six years, the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services reported Tuesday (Apr. 7). Last month, exports exceeded imports by USD 6.405 billion.

The result represents a 17.2 percent drop from the same month in 2025, when the surplus stood at USD 7.736 billion. The surplus is the lowest for March since 2020, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the result was a positive USD 4.046 billion.

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The figures were as follows:

• Exports – USD 31.603 billion, up 10 percent from March last year;
• Imports – USD 25.199 billion, up 20.1 percent from March last year.

The value of exports is the second highest for the month of March since the beginning of the time series, surpassed only by March 2023. Imports reached the highest value in the series, which began in 1989.

Sectors

Broken down by sector, exports in March varied as follows:

• Agriculture – +1.1 percent, with a two percent decline in volume and a three percent increase in average price;
• Extractive industry – +36.4 percent, driven by oil, with a 36.4 percent increase in volume and a 0.2 percent increase in average price;
• Manufacturing – +5.4 percent, with a 4.2 percent increase in volume and a one percent increase in average price.

Imports

As for imports, the increase is mainly linked to vehicles, with purchases from abroad rising by USD 755.7 million in March compared to the same month in 2025. By category, the main products are as follows:

• Agriculture – fish (+28.9%); fruits and non-oil seeds (+26.6%); and soybeans (+782%);
• Extractive industry – ores and concentrates of base metals (+33.7%); non-agglomerated coal (+59.9%); and crude petroleum oils (+19.4%);
• Manufacturing – other medicines, including veterinary medicines (+72.2%); chemical fertilizers (+61%); and passenger cars (+204.2%).

Year to date

In the first three months of the year, the trade balance recorded a surplus of USD 14.175 billion, 47.6 percent higher than the same period last year. The surge is due to the import of an oil rig in February 2025, a transaction that did not occur in 2026.

• Exports – USD 82.338 billion, up 7.1 percent compared to the same period last year;
• Imports – USD 68.163 billion, up 1.3 percent in the same comparison.

The cumulative surplus is the third largest in the time series, surpassed only by the first quarters of 2024 and 2023.

Companies play a key role in combating violence against girls and women and must act on three fronts: prevention, intervention, and support. This assessment was made on Tuesday (Mar. 31) by Márcio Rosa, Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services, in Rio de Janeiro, during an event discussing Corporate Responsibility in Combating Femicide, Gender-Based Violence, and Cultural Transformation.

In his view, the productive sector must also drive the cultural transformations needed to address the causes of the high number of femicides in the country.

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In Brazil, six women are killed every day, according to the 2025 Annual Report on Femicides, prepared by the Laboratory for the Study of Femicides at the State University of Londrina. Last year, there were 2,100 victims and 4,700 attempted femicides, according to the report.

During the event, attended by representatives from major public and private companies - led by Petrobras and Banco do Brasil - the executive secretary stated that addressing gender-based violence cannot be limited to tightening criminal laws after the fact. In his view, the focus should be on taking preventive action, starting with creating a violence-free workplace.

“What is expected of companies is prevention, intervention, care, and support,” Rosa stated.

At the event, the secretary also argued that companies should ensure the same practices are applied throughout their supply chains, “going beyond their own borders.”

Rosa classified inaction on the issue as an “institutional omission” by companies, calling it an ethical failure. He criticized corporate practices that discourage reporting, expose victims, or fail to hold perpetrators accountable.

According to him, companies that fail to create safe reporting channels or that penalize victims contribute to perpetuating the problem.

“It is obviously necessary to combat an internal culture that tolerates any form of harassment or violence,” Rosa said.

The secretary also proposed that women take a leading role in developing internal policies implemented by senior management. “Culture only changes when it is accompanied by everyday, concrete, and natural actions,” he stated.

Reinforcing the Ministry of Industry’s commitment to the issue, Rosa emphasized that the National Pact for the Prevention of Femicide also involves the government and civil society. In his view, only joint action can break the cycle of violence: “This isn’t an agenda item for tomorrow; it should have been adopted yesterday,” he concluded.

Example

During the event, businesswoman Luiza Trajano, founder of Magazine Luiza - one of Brazil’s largest retail chains, specializing in electronics, home appliances, and furniture - presented Canal Mulher (Women’s Channel), created to support female employees who are victims of domestic violence. The program was launched after an employee became a victim of femicide in 2017 and provides support from psychologists and lawyers, among other resources.

Over the years, the company has even paid rent to help an employee move out of her home. The strategy was refined in 2019, when the company’s mobile app added a reporting button that immediately connects to the 180 hotline - a 24-hour public service that receives reports of violence and provides guidance on women’s rights.

“We made a pact; we also trained men to identify and address these situations, and our company will never again lose a woman to this violence,” she said.

Trajano praised the National Pact for the Prevention of Femicide, which takes an approach focused on men. “President Lula spoke to men, and at our company, we’re speaking directly to them: ‘Look, you need to take action, because one day it could be your daughter, a niece, a sister - and you wouldn’t even know it. And it’s not just ordinary people; some are secretaries who speak three languages.’”

“Companies have been hiring more and more women, and it’s important that these women feel their employers are committed to the cause,” said Wania Sant’Anna, president of the Pact for the Promotion of Racial Equity.

“Companies play an extraordinary role in raising society’s awareness of how unacceptable violence against women is,” she stated.

“The numbers are not a mere coincidence; they reflect a culture that has historically been violent toward women and tolerated,” Sant’Anna noted, citing the severity and extreme cruelty of crimes committed against them.

To support companies, the United Nations (UN) created the Global Compact. The initiative outlines ways for organizations to “take concrete actions toward the transformations we need to see in society,” said its director, Monica Gregori. Speaking at the meeting, she highlighted the importance of corporations addressing institutional violence first.

“Companies can adopt preventive measures, starting with raising awareness about gender-based violence - since femicide is its ultimate manifestation - and combating the psychological and sexual harassment that still occurs in corporations,” Gregori emphasized.

An enthusiastic supporter of the initiative, Brazil’s First Lady Rosângela Lula da Silva highlighted the role of companies and called for support for initiatives aimed at criminalizing misogyny, of which she herself has been a victim, particularly on social media.

“When we try to understand the reason behind this escalation of violence, we encounter a hostile environment for women on the internet. In this digital space, which seems like a no-man’s-land, we see the unacceptable proliferation of misogynistic, violent, and illegal content - content that preaches male superiority and incites gender-based violence,” she analyzed.

The media’s role

Empresa Brasil de Comunicação (EBC), which manages radio and TV stations as well as websites, was represented by its CEO, Andre Basbaum, who defended the role of public media in fostering dialogue with society.

“This is a national crisis; rates of violence [against women] are extremely high, and we are addressing this through debate,” he said.

Antonia Pellegrino, EBC’s Director of Content and Programming, added that media companies are responsible for shaping the public imagination - the mental images people form about various topics. “Our programming creates new imaginaries and paves the way for transforming reality,” she said.

Brazil’s Central Bank President Gabriel Galípolo stated on Monday (Mar. 30) that Brazil is in a more favorable position than other countries to face the volatility in oil prices caused by the war in the Middle East. The executive participated in the J. Safra Macro Day, held in São Paulo this morning.

“Of course, everyone would prefer to be in a situation without all these potential risks and shocks that the world has been facing in recent years. But when I compare Brazil to its peers, it seems to be in a relatively more favorable position,” he stated.

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Galípolo argued that this advantage stems from the fact that Brazil exports more oil than it imports, as well as from the contractionary monetary policy adopted by the financial institution, which has kept the nation’s benchmark interest rate – the Selic – at 14.75 percent per year.

“Compared to other central banks, which are closer to a neutral interest rate, I think this also puts us in a more favorable position relative to our peers,” he noted.

In his view, the current high interest rate environment in Brazil has created a buffer that should allow for a cut in the benchmark rate even amid pressure from the war in the Middle East.

“This buffer, which was built up through a more conservative stance during the last few [monetary policy committee] meetings, has allowed us – even in the face of new developments – to maintain the overall policy stance,” he said. “So, we decided to stick to our path and begin the cycle of monetary policy calibration.”

All these factors, he went on, suggest that Brazil is currently “more like an ocean liner than a jet ski.”

“We’re not going to make any sudden or drastic moves. That’s why, in the [monetary policy report], I was careful to point out that the buffer has given us time to observe, understand, and learn more,” he declared.

Inflation

According to Galípolo, this volatility in oil prices on the international stage is likely to lead to higher inflation in Brazil and also to a slowdown in the country’s economy in 2026.

The Central Bank president also said that, in Brazil, rising oil prices have often had a positive impact on the GDP – which is however unlikely to be the case this time.

“This seems to me to be a rise in oil prices of a nature quite different from the past. It does not stem from a demand cycle. It does not stem from an increase in demand, but rather from a supply shock,” he said.

“So, at the Central Bank, our view is that we are likely going to see higher inflation and lower growth,” he projected.