Brasília, November 18, 2002 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Brazil's trade balance registered a surplus of US$ 444 million in the third week of November (11-17), containing four business days. During the period exports amounted to US$ 1.277 billion and imports, US$ 833 million. For the ten business days so far this month, foreign trade shows a positive result of US$ 815 million, with US$ 2.732 billion in sales and US$ 1.917 in purchases.

For the year to date, covering 222 business days, the trade surplus stands at US$ 10.875 billion - US$ 52.724 in exports and US$ 41.849 billion in imports. This information was released today by the Ministry of Development, Industry, and Foreign Trade. (DAS)