Abstract
Natural honey is considered a valuable forestry product not only for biodiversity but also to its conservation functions. Besides, it is an important exported commodity. In this study, the performance of Brazilian natural honey exported products were evaluated with specific focus on determination of their competitiveness in the international market. This article aimed to calculate the Revealed Comparative Advantage Index (RCA) of Brazilian natural honey, from 2000 to 2015. The sources consulted are SEBRAE, IBGE, Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade and the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN COMTRADE). The methodological procedure used was Balassa’s Revealed Comparative Advantage Index in order to estimate the competitiveness measure. The results demonstrated that Brazil was competitive in natural honey exported products during the period from 2002 to 2015. Considering the outcomes, based on the indexes it is possible to affirm that Brazilian natural honey is competitive and the country displays enough positive characteristics and productive capacity to amplify its participation in new international commercial markets.
Highlights
IntroductionBrazil has become one of the largest exporters of honey in a short time due to its social, economic, and environmental characteristics, which enabled the development of beekeeping (Pasin et al, 2012)
The presence of Brazilian honey has grown in international markets since 2000
The results demonstrated that Brazil was competitive in natural honey exported products during the period from 2002 to 2015
Summary
Brazil has become one of the largest exporters of honey in a short time due to its social, economic, and environmental characteristics, which enabled the development of beekeeping (Pasin et al, 2012) This growth can be attributable to temporary embargoes on two important countries in the export market: China and Argentina. These restrictions were made by the European Community suspending the Chinese honey imports resulted from the elevated indexes of veterinary drugs in their product and simultaneously, the United States suspended honey imports from Argentina, alleging price distortions, which caused unfair competition with US producers. Further diversity is found in the range of products originating from apiculture such as: wax, propolis, pollen, royal jelly, and bee venom (Zandonadi & Silva, 2006)
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