Brazil registers first monthly trade deficit since 2001

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 2 (Chinese media) -- Brazil registered

a trade deficit of 518 million U.S. dollars in January, the first since 2001,

the country's Development, Industry and Trade Ministry announced Monday.

The figure was a sharp fall from the 2.3 billion

dollar surplus last December and 922 million dollar surplus in January 2008.

An average trade deficit of 24.7 million dollars per

business day was registered in January, down 123.6 percent from last December

and 158.9 percent from January 2008.

This is the first time Brazil registered a trade

deficit since March 2001 when the deficit reached 274 million dollars.

The country's export volume reached 9.79 billion

dollars, with an average of 466.1 million dollars per business day, down 25.8

percent from last December and 22.8 percent from January 2008.

Import volume totaled 10.31 billion dollars in the

period, with an average of 490.8 million dollars per business day, down 6.3

percent from last December and 12.6 percent from the same month last year.

The results indicate that Brazil may face

difficulties in fulfilling the target of a 14 billion U.S. dollar trade surplus

for 2009, the ministry said.

If the international market situation continues to

worsen, Brazilian exports may fall up to 20 percent this year, it warned.