BRAZIL POSTS $2.39 BILLION TRADE SURPLUS IN JUNE

Brazil swung to its biggest monthly trade surplus of the year in June as farmers exported a record grains harvest while fuel imports declined, the Trade Ministry said Monday.
Brazil posted a $2.39 billion trade surplus last month, outstripping May's $758 million surplus. The result was also better than the $2 billion surplus economists had expected, according to the median estimate in a survey by the local Agencia Estado news agency.
Based on daily averages, Brazil's exports surged 9.7% last month from June 2012 to $21.23 billion, while imports edged up by just 1.5% to $18.83 billion.
Outward shipments of vehicles, industrial equipment, soybeans, beef and chicken all rose in June from the year-ago month.
Lower imports of fuels and petrochemicals helped to offset Brazilians' rising purchases of consumer goods, equipment and machinery and intermediate goods from abroad, the ministry said.
Notwithstanding the June surplus, Brazil's trade balance remained in deficit territory during the first half of 2013. The country posted a $3 billion trade shortfall in the January to June period, compared with a $7.06 billion surplus a year earlier.
Source: Dow Jones