Brazil Cyclic Hydrocarbons to Spain Surge 9x Since 2023

Brazilian exports of cyclic hydrocarbons to Spain reached US$ 7.4M in 2025, capping a three-year run that began at US$ 853K in 2023 and delivered a compound gain of nearly 9 times the starting value. Few industrial chemical categories post that kind of trajectory over two consecutive years in the same direction.

The year-by-year curve

The trajectory has been uninterrupted. In 2024, shipments climbed to US$ 2.6M — a +203% jump from the prior-year base. In 2025, the pace held: another +184% took the total to US$ 7.4M. Two consecutive years of near-tripling volumes in the same direction is the kind of pattern analysts typically classify as structural rather than cyclical — not a one-off arbitrage, but a realignment of supply relationships that takes time and logistics investment to reverse.

Cyclic hydrocarbons — benzene, toluene, xylenes, naphthalenes — are upstream feedstocks for paints, synthetic rubber, fine chemicals, solvents, and polymer intermediates. Spain hosts one of the EU's larger petrochemical complexes at Tarragona, the Iberian Peninsula's largest chemical hub, alongside industrial corridors in the Basque Country. These facilities run sustained demand for aromatic compounds with relatively stable throughput regardless of short-term economic cycles, which gives buyers predictability and exporters a reliable demand signal worth investing in.

What is driving this

Two structural factors explain Brazil's competitive emergence as a supplier. First, FX: a weaker real throughout 2023-2025 lowered landed costs for European buyers purchasing in dollars, making Brazilian origin competitive against Middle Eastern and Asian suppliers who price in dollars but carry lower logistics costs to Atlantic northern markets. Second, supply: Brazilian refinery output of aromatic fractions has gradually expanded, widening exportable surplus. The combination of price advantage and growing availability created the opening that Spanish buyers moved to capture.

There is no evidence of a specific export-incentive policy driving this segment in the period. The movement appears to reflect market opportunism — Spanish buyers took the price window; Brazilian exporters responded with volume. That kind of cycle is sensitive to FX reversal, which puts the question of sustainability firmly on the agenda for 2026 planning. A rebound in the real of 15-20% could compress margins enough to bring Asian suppliers back into competitive range.

What it means for trade operators

The ninefold jump concentrated in a single EU partner carries two implications. On the positive side, Spanish buyers have grown accustomed to Brazilian product at competitive prices — switching costs create friction against rapid supplier substitution. On the risk side, if Tarragona's facilities run a major planned maintenance window or a Gulf producer decides to penetrate the Iberian market with aggressive pricing, volumes could drop quickly. Exporters without geographic diversification across Europe carry that exposure directly on their order books.

The 2026 window matters: European petrochemical procurement cycles for the second half of the year typically open in Q1. Exporters who have not yet locked supply agreements for this period are at a disadvantage relative to competitors who have.

What this means for you

For exporters: lock in volume with Spanish buyers through annual or multi-year supply agreements — the procurement window for H2 2026 closes in Q1. Missing this window means competing for spot orders against Middle Eastern suppliers with lower freight costs.

For exporters: use Spain's demand signal to open parallel conversations in Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium to reduce single-market exposure and build a broader European footprint in aromatics.

For importers: Brazil's rising competitiveness in aromatic hydrocarbons signals improving domestic availability — worth revisiting sourcing matrices if these compounds feed downstream manufacturing operations.

Source: MDIC ComexStat

Three consecutive years of growth in the same direction. The fourth year will determine whether this is a new baseline or the peak of a currency-driven cycle.