Food exports from Brazil to the United Kingdom: An exploratory analysis of COVID-19 impact on trade

Brazil and the UK have been strategic partners throughout the years. While the former has traded minerals and food products – mainly agricultural commodities – the latter has been critical to infrastructure development in the South American country. However, the Crisis of COVID-19 Pandemic altered the scenario of international food production and distribution. This article aims to analyse Brazilian food exports to the UK in 2019 and 2020 to identify the impact of COVID-19 on the trade flows. To do so, we collected data from the Brazilian Ministry of Economy regarding the exports between the two nations and performed an exploratory investigation using graphical and quantitative analysis. The results suggest that the Pandemic crisis rose Brazilian exports of cereal and grains to the UK by around 50%, and the shortage of these items in the internal market has increased consumer prices by more than 60% during 2020