Brasília, January 5, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - In the first week of 2004, exports fell 36.8% in comparison with the first week of 2003. The balance announced today by the Ministry of Development shows that, in the first week of January, which had only one business day, US$ 138 million in merchandise were exported, as against US$ 218.4 million during the same period in 2003. The trade balance surplus attained US$ 35 million in the first week of the year.

According to the Ministry, the drop in exports was due to declines in sales of three categories of products: semi-manufactured goods, down 59.5%; basic commodities, down 49.8%; and manufactured goods, down 20.4%. (DAS)