Brazil's trade deficit for chemical products was $2.2 billion in May, stable with the same month last year, according to figures released Friday by the Brazilian Chemical Industry Association (Abiquim).
For the year through May, Brazil's trade deficit for chemical products has reached $9.6 billion, up 4.1% on the same period last year.
Chemical imports in May were down 2.7% to $3.5 billion, compared with the same month last year. Through May, Brazil had imported $15.8 billion worth of chemicals, up 3.3% on the same period last year.
Brazil exported $1.3 billion worth of chemicals in May, down 7% on the same month last year. Through May, exports were up 2% on the same period last year, at $6.2 billion.
The director of foreign trade for Abiquim, Denise Mazzaro Naranjo, was wary of drawing strong conclusions from the results.
"The weak performance of Brazilian industry in the first months of 2012 and the uncertainty concerning the global economic scenario are factors that don't allow a more consistent diagnosis concerning the trade balance for chemical products until the end of the year," she said in a statement.
With chemical products representing 17.3% of Brazil's $91.6 billion in imports from January to May, the government has in recent months begun to take increasing measures to try and change the trade balance in favor of domestic producers.
On Wednesday the government announced it plans to introduce tax incentives to boost the struggling petrochemical sector, saying the new measures could be announced within weeks.
The potential tax incentives come on top of a government decision to unify Brazil's taxes on interstate trade after the so-called "war of the ports," in which states such as Espirto Santo and Santa Catarina offered cheap entry points for imported goods, harming the competitiveness of domestic petrochemical companies.
The interstate tax, known as the ICMS, will be standardized at 4% in January.
