Jamaica’s trade deficit narrowed between January and May this year, compared to the same period in 2013 by US$125 to US$1.78 billion. For the same period last year, the trade deficit narrowed by just US$36 million.
The 2014 improvement emanated from imports of US$2.4 billion, a decrease of US$224 million or 8.5 percent and exports of US$616 million, down from US$715 million for the comparable 2013 period. The value of exports fell by US$99 million or 13.9 percent. Decline in fuel, food and beverage imports accounted for the bulk of the decline and alumina exports accounted for 14 percent of the export decline and non-traditional exports the rest.
Imports| Mineral Fuels import amounted to US$856 million, compared to the US$966 million for the January to May 2013 period. Imports of Raw Materials and Intermediate Goods fell to US$1.45 billion, a decrease of US$265 million or 15.4 percent. Imports of Other Fuel and Lubricants with the US$513 million was lower than the US$576 million recorded for the similar period of 2013, with a decline of US$63 million or 11 percent. Crude Oil imports at US$342 million, moved from US$389 million in the similar period of 2013, a fall of US$47 million or 12 percent.
Industrial supplies declined by US$146 million to US$350 million and Food and Beverages fell from US$146 million in the 2013 period to US$129 million. Capital Goods excluding Motor Cars increased moving from US$203 million to US$218 million in the current January to May 2014 period. Machinery and Equipment was the main contributor to the increase in this group moving up by 18.4 percent to US$121 million.
Traditional exports declined by 4.7 percent to US$327 million for review period versus the previous 2013 period due mainly to a decline in Alumina of US$13.5 million. Non-traditional exports decreased during the January to May 2014 by US$81 million or 23.7 percent to US$259.9 million. Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin) who compiled the data did not state which item accounted for the largest portion of the decline. Previous information indicate that export of ethanol fell sharply due to low demand in the USA market for the product.
Trade balance maintains improvement to May
Huge change in Jamaica’s CARICOM non-fuel trade
While imports from CARICOM for the first quarter of 2014 rose over the similar period in 2013, the figures mask the huge progress Jamaica made in in the non-fuel trade balance with Caricom partners. The value of nonfuel imports from CARICOM fell in the first three months of 2014 while exports jumped, albeit from a low level. Imports fell to US$64 million from US$73 million in the comparable 2013 period and exports jumped 63 percent or $11 million to US$29 million, a $20 million improvement in the trade balance excluding fuel. Manufactured Goods valued at US$13.6 million was the major contributor to this increase in exports. Food valued at US$7.6 million, Beverages & Tobacco at US$2.2 million and Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles at US$1.8 million constituted the major commodity groups exported to CARICOM, the report from the Statistical institute of Jamaica stated.
Notwithstanding the improvement in the non-fuel imports, total mported items from Caricom rose to US$207 million for the quarter, US$44 million more than the US$163 million recorded for 2013.
Imports of Mineral Fuels, increased during the current 2014 period to US$143 million increasing by US$53 million moving from US$90 million.
