Competitive performance of exported products from Mato Grosso do Sul State agribusiness sector between 1997 and 2011

Abstract

In this work, we aimed to characterize the exporter profile of the agribusiness in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, identifying which segments show comparative advantage - competitiveness -, who are the most competitive partners, as well as the developed marketing- type. The used methodology allowed the assessment, from ex post data, of the competitive performance of the agribusiness segments, as well as the strengths, weaknesses, and neutral points in commercial relations of the State. We used the following indexes: Gini-Hirschman, revealed comparative advantage (RCA), contribution for commercial balance (CB), coverage rate (CR), and intra-industry trade (IIT). According to results, exportations showed a strong dependence to the agribusiness, with predominance of segments of meat, soybean complex, sugar ethanol complex and cellulose. Exportations were found to be increasing over the last 15 years, however, with the parallel reduction of predominance of agribusiness segments in recent years. Therefore, we can conclude by saying that important segments for the agribusiness in the State show high contribution for commercial balance, but, the low competitiveness signalizes need of investments in this sectors for a good performance of the State in the foreign trade.