Weird Products Exported from Brazil
Everyone knows that Brazil is one of the biggest commodities exporters in the world, but do people know the Brazil also exports badminton rackets? Or tortoise shells? This article outlines some weird items exported from the country.
According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Brazil is placed in the 25° position in the rank of the world's largest exporters. The country moved more than 242 billion USD in 2012 only in exportations, which is equivalent to 1.32% of total global exports.
The Brazilian exports are basically composed of commodities, that represents more than 70% of the total amount of these operations, as informed by the country’s Foreign Trade Association. The other 30% is equivalent to other products, more specifically, to 4,292 different items. Many of them are very unexpected as it was published in an article from the online magazine, Exame.
Cattle Semen
Sounds very weird, but in fact Brazil has earned money by exporting 12 kilos of cattle semen. The quantity generated was 103,165.00 USD for the Brazilian trade balance. The main buyers were Angola, Ecuador, Paraguay, Dominican Republic, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Uruguay.
The semen exported originated from dairy breeds of cattle that, according to the Brazilian Association of Breeders of Girolando, comprised of animals with higher productivity, hardiness, early maturity, longevity and fertility, along with having high adaptability to different types of climates. That explains why the semen of these cattle breeds are so desired by producers throughout the world.
Human Hair
Apparently Brazil is a huge exporter of human hair. In 2012 the country gained 115,693.00 USD with the exportation of 536 kilos of this product. The numbers show that 1 kilo of human hair is equivalent to 215.84 USD, and Israel and the United States were the main buyers of human hair.
Tortoise Shells
Tortoise parts granted Brazil almost 11,6 million USD in 2012, with 4.502kg of the tortoise's shells, horns and other parts of the animal being exported abroad. New Zealand was the greatest purchaser, buying 4,5 tons of it, while 2 kilos of the Brazilian exports were sent to China. But what is the functionality of a tortoise shell? Well, basically people can make art with it. The product is used for handicraft works, especially in Central America and the Caribbean.
Vergalho
Vergalho is the genital member of the ox, after being cut and dried. It is exported in the category of beef offal mainly to South Korea, which produces canned products. In 2012, 334,878.00 USD were gained by Brazil with the exportation of 130.689 kilos of Vergalho.
Lightning Rod
Brazilian weather is tropical, and being tropical the incidence of rains throughout the country is very common, the place has the largest occurrence of lightning in the world. So it's not a surprise that Brazil is a producer of lightning rods and an exporter of it. In 2012, the country won 10,092.00 USD with only this exportation, even being a considerable amount of money, it is only the United States that imports lightning rods from Brazil.
Taximeter
Interestingly, one of the items listed in the weird goods exported by Brazil were the taximeters and the mileometers. The category generated in 2012 334,197.00 USD in exports, 10.1% fewer than in 2011, when exports totalized 300,473.00 USD only for taximeters.
Badminton Racket
This item is more curious than weird, the country doesn’t have the habit or the culture of playing badminton, even though it exports badminton rackets. Being this sport more popular in Asian countries, the game generated to Brazil 1,297.99 USD in 2012. But the purchasers of Brazilian badminton equipment aren’t Asian, the only buyer of Brazilian badminton rackets is Aruba.
Ski Equipment
If the production and exportation of badminton rackets sounds strange to you, the production and exportation of ski equipment should be completely weird. Brazil is a tropical country with hot weather and a winter that's not so intense, but the country is actually an exporter of ski equipments to other Latin American countries and hot weather destinations, like Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Angola. Germany and Finland are also purchasers of the Brazilian products that generated an income of 37,725.00 USD for Brazil in 2012.