External Trade- 1st Quarter 2009

External Trade
1st Quarter 2009
Highlights

1. Balance of Trade

Total exports for the first quarter of 2009 were valued at Rs 14,262 million against imports of Rs 25,392 million resulting in a trade deficit of
Rs 11,130 million, which is 32.4% lower than that of the corresponding quarter of 2008 and 27.7% lower compared to the previous quarter.

2. Exports

Total export proceeds for the first quarter of 2009 stood at Rs 14,262 million showing decreases of 28.4% over the previous quarter and 0.3% over the corresponding quarter of 2008.

For the first quarter of 2009, 41.5% of exports consisted of “articles of apparel and clothing accessories” (Rs 5,392 million), 16.5% of sugar
(Rs 2,152 million) and 15.7% of “fish and fish preparations” (Rs 2,048 million).

The main export market remained the European continent with a share of 70.4%, while on a country-wise basis, the United Kingdom was the main buyer, accounting for 34.8% of total exports. The other main markets were France (12.2%), U.S.A (8.0%), Italy (7.5%) and Madagascar (5.5%).

3. Imports

Total imports for the first quarter of 2009 reached Rs 25,392 million, i.e a decrease of 28.1% over the previous quarter and 17.5% over the corresponding quarter of 2008.

Around 19.7% of imports comprised “food and live animals” (Rs 4,995 million), 16.9% consisted of “mineral fuels, lubricants & related products”
(Rs 4,288 million) and 19.4% of “manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials” (Rs 4,924 million).

The Asian countries supplied 49.1% of imported products for the first quarter of 2009 and another 27.6% came from European countries.

The main source of imports was India (19.7%), our main supplier of “petroleum products” since the last quarter of 2006. The other main supplier countries were China (11.2%) and France (9.3%).

4. Forecast

Based on figures for the first quarter of 2009 and information available from various sources, total exports for the year 2009 are expected to be of the order of Rs 63,000 million, against imports of Rs 118,000 million. The trade deficit would therefore be around Rs 55,000 million.

June 2009

More: External Trade- 1st Quarter 2009

Introduction

Table 1 - Summary of External Trade, 2007 - 2009

Table 2 - Imports and exports of the Freeport Zone, 2007-2009

Table 3 - Total exports of main commodities by section, 2007 - 2009

Table 4 - Domestic exports of main commodities by section, 2007 - 2009

Table 5 - Re-exports of main commodities by section, 2007 - 2009

Table 6 - Freeport re-exports of main commodities by section, 2007 - 2009

Table 7 - Total exports by country of destination, 2007 - 2009

Table 8 - Domestic exports by country of destination, 2007 - 2009

Table 9 - Re-exports by country of destination, 2007 - 2009