External trade – 2nd Quarter 2024
Highlights
Total Exports
- 1. Total exports (inclusive of ship's stores & bunkers) for the second quarter of 2024 were valued at Rs 29,579 million, showing an increase of 17.6%, compared to the corresponding quarter of 2023. This is mainly explained by increases in the exports of “Ships' stores & bunkers" (+91.4%), “Food and live animals" (+9.0%) and “Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material" (+0.1%), partly offset by decreases in the exports of “Machinery and transport equipment" (-12.9%), “Miscellaneous manufactured articles" (-6.2%) and “Chemicals and related products n.e.s" (-1.4%). Compared to the previous quarter, the total exports for second quarter of 2024 increased by 26.6%.
2. For the first semester of 2024, total exports valued at Rs 52,938 million increased by 4.5%, compared to Rs 50,660 million in the corresponding period of 2023.
Total Imports
3. Total imports, for the second quarter of 2024, amounted to Rs 76,712 million showing an increase of 5.6%, compared to the corresponding quarter of 2023. This is mainly due to increases in imports of “Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials" (+40.4%) and “Chemicals and related products n.e.s" (+12.6%), partly offset by decreases in the imports of “Beverages and tobacco" (-39.3%), “Miscellaneous manufactured articles" (-6.5%), “Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material" (-2.7%), “Food and live animals" (-2.1%) and “Machinery and transport equipment" (-0.7%). Compared to the previous quarter, the total imports for the second quarter of 2024 increased by 10.5%.
4. For the first semester of 2024, total imports amounting to Rs 146,119 million increased by 5.7%, compared to Rs 138,252 million in the corresponding period of 2023.
Balance of trade
5. The trade deficit for the second quarter of 2024 worked out to Rs 47,133 million, 2.4% higher than the deficit of Rs 46,048 million of the previous quarter and 0.8% lower than the deficit of Rs 47,493 million of the corresponding quarter of 2023.-
- 6. For the first semester of 2024, the trade deficit worked out to around Rs 93,181 million, 6.4% higher than the deficit of Rs 87,592 million in the first semester of 2023.
Forecast for year 2024
- 7. Based on trends and information from various sources, the forecast for total exports for 2024 will be around Rs 105 billion, slightly higher than Rs 104 billion in year 2023 and total imports for 2024, including one-off items such as machinery for metro terminals, will be around Rs 300 billion, 5.6% higher than the total imports of around Rs 284 billion in 2023. The trade deficit for 2024 is forecasted at around Rs 195 billion, 8.3% higher as compared to around Rs 180 billion in 2023.
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