AMERICAS REGIONAL REPORT Date : 2017-04-18 Views : 5355
institution name : OCB
Regional Report - Americas
Mr. Marcio Freitas, OCB (Brazil).
The Exports of Brazilian Cooperatives in 2016: Collaborating for a more economically and socially sustainable country.
The Brazilian cooperative system is one of the fastest growing and expanding economic sectors in the country. The number of cooperatives has quadrupled in the last 25 years. The movement has proved to be not only robust, but also resilient to the economic, political and social difficulties that our country has faced in recent decades.
This capacity for continuous advancement was due to the strengthening of the representative organizations of the sector at the state and national levels. By prioritizing the defense of cooperative interests to the three Powers of the Republic (Executive, Judiciary and Legislative), OCB built a perennial relationship with the public policy-making offices, which took care of the growth environment of our cooperatives.
Complementarily, the work of the state offices of the OCB System, rooted in all the states of the Brazil, specialized in the daily contact with the reality of our cooperatives, their members, families and communities. The result of an integrated follow-up between the representations of the cooperative sector can be mirrored in the economic expansion of the business of our cooperatives.
The third pillar of support for the growth of the cooperative sector in the country is the desire of the cooperatives themselves to improve their management processes.
We have seen their large investments in management and on the improvement of their technical and business capacities, placing these points as absolute priorities of their democratic management.
Seeking to leverage the management development of our cooperatives, the sector has the National Cooperative Learning Service. Victory acquired in 1999, the entity of the so-called "System S" has the function of promoting the improvement of the management of cooperatives and social development of the cooperative and employees and their families.
With the dedication to the search for excellence of cooperatives, our state offices and national organization, we can conclude that the economic growth of our cooperatives did not come by chance. Years of constant dedication to the strengthening of cooperative values and doctrine were essential for the development of Brazilian cooperative movement.
Such growth was also noticed in the international business of our cooperatives. Robust and well managed, they reach markets in no less than 147 countries. A select group of countries in the world have such representative cooperatives in the international market.
The export model of cooperative movement is extremely inclusive. Resources do not benefit a group of people and generate development in a large number of communities, mostly rural ones. These exports also contribute directly to the Brazilian Trade Balance. In 2016, the trade surplus of our cooperatives reached US $ 4.6 billion.
The cooperative exports in 2016
In 2016, 240 cooperative units, including cooperatives and their subsidiaries, exported directly, according to data released by the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services in January 2017.
Between January and December 2016, the sum of exports of Brazilian cooperatives reached US $ 5,137 billion. Gross export volume in the period increased by 12.09% From 3.3 million tonnes in 2015 to 3.7 million tonnes in 2016.
The main state of exports of cooperatives in 2016 was Paraná, which accounted for 39.6% of all exported value in the period, with US $ 2 billion. Secondly, the state of São Paulo appears with 22.3% of the total exported value, with US $ 1.1 billion. In third place is the state of Minas Gerais, whose cooperative exports totaled 12.3% of exports and US $ 633 million.
Chickens (US$ 926 million, 18.9% of the tariff), sugars (US$ 721 million, 14.4%) and coffee grains (US$ 681 million, 13.26%) were the highlights in exports with the main products traded on the agenda.
The main destination country for Brazilian cooperative exports last year was China, which accounted for 18.9% of exports. Germany ranks second, concentrating 7.7% of all our cooperatives exported in the period. The third largest destination for exports was the United States, with 7.6% of the total value exported by the cooperatives in 2016.
Of the 240 cooperative units, direct exports were carried out in the following amounts: 8 exported values above US $ 100 million, 11 with sales between US $ 50 and 100 million; 29 between $ 10 and $ 50 million; 15 between $ 5 and $ 10 million; 53 between 1 and 5 million; And 124 cooperatives with sales up to $ 1 million.
To further diversify the range of exported products, OCB constantly maintains the updated Brazilian Catalog of Exporter Cooperatives. The publication is translated into seven languages and disseminated to embassies, consulates, international organizations, governments and global trade agencies, and is available online.
The commercial promotion work also involves the development of strategies to position the products developed by Brazilian cooperatives in the international market. For this, we prospect commercial opportunities, technical scripts and contacts with agents of government, national and foreign, and international organizations. The main objective of our work is to create connections between our members and their potential international clients.