The Reconstruction of Brazil’s Foreign Trade Series, 1821-1913

Abstract

To date, research on the economic history of Brazil during the 19th century has relied on official foreign trade statistics, the accuracy of which has repeatedly been put into question. This paper provides insights into the accuracy of the official series by examining the accuracy of the export and import series for Brazil during the 19th century. We re-estimate the official import series using trading partner sources, and find that the official series was marginally under-valued during certain periods of the 19th century. Furthermore, we provide new upper- and lower-bound estimates of the export series by testing different assumptions regarding the size of the cost, insurance and freight to free on board factor adjustments. Finally, we introduce a new import price index for the period 1827-1913.

TRADING IN AN EMERGING MARKET: E. JOHNSTON & CO AND THE BRAZILIAN COFFEE TRADE 1840-1880

“…He clearly worked a mixed import business of basic foodstuffs such as codfish (a staple in the local diet and his most frequent cargo), flour and salt as well as basic manufactured goods, including hardware, ceramics, iron and steel, machinery and even small arms, as well as timber and coal 39 . Like so many British merchant houses, however, and despite the appearance of product diversification, his most important high-value cargoes were textiles, second only to codfish by shipload but far more significant in terms of value (Absell and Tena-Junguito 2017). Johnston's firm was allegedly the largest importer of cotton into Brazil during the 1850s, providing specialist goods for particular markets.…”