China bought half of Brazil’s oil exports as Iran war shut Hormuz, driving sales to record
Por Igor Patrick — South China Morning Post – News feed
Advertisement China-Latin America relations China China bought half of Brazil's oil exports as Iran war shut Hormuz, driving sales to record
Crude makes up a quarter of Brazilian shipments to Chinese buyers, but growth has slowed since Gulf tankers started sailing again
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Igor Patrick in Rio de Janeiro Published: 2:23am, 16 Oct 2026
Trade between Brazil and China reached a record US$143 billion in the first nine months of the year, driven by Brazilian oil sales that surged after the war on Iran disrupted Gulf supply, according to a report by the Brazil-China Business Council.
Brazilian exports to China rose 12 per cent to US$84.7 billion between January and September, while imports from China grew 9.9 per cent to US$58.6 billion, the council said in its quarterly analysis of government data. The resulting US$26.1 billion surplus equalled 42 per cent of Brazil’s trade surplus with the world.
Crude oil accounted for most of the gain, with sales to China jumping 49 per cent to a record US$21.8 billion as shipments rose 27 per cent by volume and prices climbed 16.8 per cent. China took half of all the crude Brazil exported, nearly seven times the share of India, the next-largest buyer.
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