China: socialismo, abertura econômica e interações globais - o fluxo de commodities do Porto do Itaqui (MA) para a China

Abstract

In 2009, China has became Brazil's main trading partner, and iron-ore and soy are among the main Brazilian products exported through Itaqui’s harbour. A historical projection of the evolution of the Itaqui’s infrastructure indicates that the Itaqui’s harbor was initially built to meet the demand for iron-ore exports, gradually expanded between the 1980s and 2010s to meet the growing international market demand for commodities. This flow of exports through Itaqui reflects China's commercial weight in the North and Northeast of Brazil, prompting reflections on the relationship between the local, regional and global. In this context, the research analyzes the flow of commodities between Brazil and China through Itaqui’s harbour, considering that trade between the two countries has increased substantially in the last decade, when China has projected itself into the globalized economy. We incorporated aspects of Marxist dependency theory in order to better conceptualize, characterize and analyse the trade relationship between Brazil and China based on the flow of commodities, which provides relevant insights into the integration of peripheral economies into the world market and unequal exchange. In this sense, our hypothesis suggests that the characterization of the Chinese presence in the region, taking into account a scenario of permanence or even increase, can contribute to a better characterization of the implications of China's presence through the flow of commodities in the North/Northeast region of Brazil, especially in the Legal Amazon region, which includes the state of Maranhão. The paper concludes that the economic relationship between Brazil and China through the export of commodities through the Itaqui’s harbuor reinforces Brazil's prominent position as a commodities exporter, without, however, having any real implications for Maranhão's regional development process, which perpetuates the centuries-old dynamic of a region producing agricultural products.