Brazil–China trade hits a record US$143.3 billion through September, with chicken and sorghum surging

Trade between Brazil and China reached US$143.3 billion from January to September 2026, a record for the period, according to a Brazil-China Business Council (CEBC) study based on Brazilian trade ministry (MDIC) data and published by Valor. Brazilian exports to China rose 12% to US$84.7 billion, and imports from China grew 9.9% to US$58.6 billion. Brazil's surplus was US$26.1 billion.

Soybeans, crude oil and iron ore still account for more than 77% of what Brazil sells to China. Soybeans brought in US$30 billion, and China took 70% of all Brazilian soybean shipments. Crude oil earned US$21.8 billion, 49% more than in the first nine months of 2025.

Beef fell 8.5% under the annual import quota Beijing imposed this year. Chicken went the other way: sales of chicken meat and offal to China rose 113% in value and 86% in volume. Copper ore grew 7.8%.

The CEBC highlights products that could enter the top ten. Sorghum, cleared by a phytosanitary agreement in late 2024, reached US$170 million. DDG, a corn-ethanol by-product used in animal feed, totaled US$204 million in exports worldwide, 53% of them to China. Spodumene, the mineral lithium is extracted from, reached US$172.3 million in sales to China, up 339%; China bought 97% of Brazil's exports of the mineral.

For comparison, full-year 2025 closed with US$171 billion in Brazil–China trade, a record at the time, according to the CEBC using MDIC data.