Brazil-China trade hits record as China buys half of Brazil's crude exports

Mixed · 2Trade between Brazil and China reached a record of about US$143 billion in the first nine months of 2026, according to a report by the Brazil-China Business Council (Breitbart gives the figure as $142 billion). 1 2 Mixed · 2Brazilian exports to China rose 12 per cent to US$84.7 billion and imports from China grew 9.9 per cent to US$58.6 billion, leaving a US$26.1 billion surplus for Brazil, equal to 42 per cent of its surplus with the world. 1 2 Mixed · 2Crude oil accounted for most of the gain: sales to China jumped 49 per cent to a record US$21.8 billion, as volumes rose 27 per cent and prices 16.8 per cent. 1 2

Mixed · 2China took half of all the crude Brazil exported, far ahead of India, the next-largest buyer (SCMP says nearly seven times India's share); Breitbart puts Chinese purchases at over a million barrels a day against about 238,000 barrels a day for India. 1 2 Centre · 1The council said Middle East tensions and the risk to flows through the Strait of Hormuz increased the search for more stable suppliers, favouring Brazil; SCMP reports that Tehran effectively closed the strait after US and Israeli strikes on Iran began in late February, cutting a route that carried more than half of China's seaborne crude imports, according to Kpler. 1 Mixed · 2Oil is now 25.8 per cent of Brazilian exports to China, second only to soybeans at 35.4 per cent, and Rio de Janeiro state supplied 89 per cent of the crude sold to China. 1 2

Mixed · 2Brazil's crude exports to all markets grew 28.7 per cent to US$43 billion, with sales to India up 165 per cent. 1 2 Mixed · 2Both outlets say the boom is slowing: the council had reported in July that China took 54 per cent of Brazil's crude, and Gulf exports excluding Iran recovered to more than 81 per cent of pre-war levels in September after a June US-Iran agreement, though Iranian attacks on tankers have intensified this month; Breitbart says it remains to be seen whether renewed attacks will swing China back to Brazil. 1 2 Mixed · 2Beef was the biggest drag: sales to China fell 8.5 per cent to US$5.5 billion after Brazil filled its 1.1 million tonne quota under a Chinese safeguard, and shipments above it have paid a 55 per cent surtax since the start of October; Breitbart describes the measures as caps and punitive tariffs designed to protect China's domestic suppliers. 1 2

Centre · 1On the import side, SCMP reports plug-in hybrid purchases from China up 89 per cent to US$2.87 billion and battery electric cars up 341 per cent to about US$2.4 billion, with imports collapsing in July when Brazil raised the duty to 35 per cent before recovering by September; it also notes new sorghum sales of US$170 million and a 339 per cent rise in spodumene exports. 1 Right · 1Breitbart adds that analysts said Brazil lacks the capacity to fully replace lost Gulf supply, that Brazilian crude suits Asian refineries, and that Japan and South Korea have expressed interest in buying more. 2