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Brazil falls behind amid race to buy Chinese supplies

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Vincent

Brazil needs to act fast if it wants to buy health products from China, paying upfront and shipping them immediately by plane. Otherwise, another country may take the lead amid the global run on personal protection equipment.

The advice comes from sources following Brazilian attempts to purchase masks, gloves, ventilators, testing kits and protective equipment (coveralls and goggles), but so far in a disorganized way.

It is not only the Health Ministry of Brazil that wants to purchase from China. Several Brazilian companies and states are making their attempts as well. Everything is ongoing, and the Brazilians managed to close few deals so far, the sources say.

"You got to pay upfront, take, and leave. Otherwise, the country will keep receiving little by little, with ever-shifting price and quality," an expert says.

Some Brazilian merchants were even able to buy some medical products from China but don't have the money to have them air-shipped to Brazil, for instance. Seagoing shipping takes too long.

The Health Ministry is expected to be more successful moving forward after signing a deal with a trading firm that knows both the Brazilian and Chinese markets and can help consolidate purchases.

Doing business in China right now is not easy. On the one hand, some factories are hesitant about selling to foreigners. There is also the potential for fraud, complex laws and other hurdles.

Moreover, US buyers are pulling all of their weight to get ahead of the line. This week, the executive chief of France's Grand Est region (where Strasbourg sits), Jean Rottner, reported that a mask shipment that his region had ordered was taken over by an American buyer while still on the landing strip.

The French official said the Americans paid double the price and took home the masks. There are also rumors that the US seized a shipment bound to another Latin American country during a Florida stop.

"If someone arrives with more money, they take away someone else's shipment," a person familiar with current trade practices in China says. Moreover, there's a quality issue. Faulty testing kits have caused problems for the Spanish government. The Chinese government...

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