Brasília, 10/1/2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The cumulative trade surplus from January to September this year is now over US$17.8 billion. Exports have reached US$52.8 billion, and imports US$34.9 billion. All of those numbers are historical records. The former surplus record was US$14.6 billion in 1998.

According to the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, the September trade surplus reached US$2.760 billion, the second biggest monthly trade surplus in history for Brazil. Exports for September were US$7.28 billion (a record) with the daily average at US$330 million, and imports of US$4.61 billion (daily average of US$209 million).

Compared to September 2002, this September's exports were up 12.1%, and imports up 15.2%. (AB)