Jamaican Imports

Imports & exports down to June

October 1, 2015 by IC Insider.com

Petroleum imports help cut trade deficit to June

Jamaica continues to see gains from the fall in the price of petroleum on the world market but the country is not yet seeing the improvement in exports that is expected from the economic measures being pursued by the country. Thanks to a sharp drop in the country’s oil bill the trade deficit drop sharply by 11 percent in the first six months of this year.The merchandise trade deficit for January to June 2015 stood at US$1.9 billion, a fall of 10.9 percent compared to US$2.13 billion recorded in 2014. Imports decreased by 11 percent or US$316 million to US$2.55 billion. Total exports fell 11.4 percent or US$85 million to US$655 million compared to the similar 2014 period.
Traditional domestic exports during the 2015 review period grew 3.6 percent over 2014 to US$407 million, while Non-Traditional exports earned declined by a large 29.4 percent or US$92 million to US$220 million in 2015.

Import of buses for JUTC added to the Jamaica’s imports to June.

The reduction in imports “was as a result of significantly lower imports of crude oil and processed fuels, primarily Bunker C grade fuel oil, gasoline, Automotive Diesel Oil, Propane and Butane”, the Statistical Institute of Jamaica said.
Excluding motor cars there was an increase in Consumer Goods of 8.7 percent or US$67 million to US$839 million during January to June 2015 compared to the same period in 2014. Expenditure on Capital Goods accounted for US$273 million of imports, up from US$256 million in 2014.

Filed Under: Breaking News, Economy, Feature Stories Tagged With: Jamaican exports, Jamaican Imports

US$316M import drop exports down $81m

September 7, 2015 by IC Insider.com

Import of buses for JUTC added to the Jamaica’s imports to May.

Jamaica imported 13.2 percent or US$316 million less for the year to May this year, than for the 2014 period but suffered a US$81 million fall in exports for the same period. The savings in imports amounts to $758 million in annualized savings.
The shifts in exports and imports resulted in the merchandise trade deficit falling sharply by 13.4 percent to US$1.52 billion. The deficit was US$1.76 billion in the similar 2014 period. Imports for the current 2015 period amounts to US$2.09 billion, while earnings from exports amounted to US$565 million, a fall of 12.5 percent from the previous 2014 period.
Imports for the year to May were down sharply for many of the category of goods imported. Imports of Raw Materials and Intermediate Goods amounted to US$1.124 billion, a decline of US$354 million, down 24 percent. Consumer Goods rose by 5.9 percent or US$38 million to US$684 million, Imports of Food and Beverages fell by 1 percent to US$275 million. Capital Goods excluding Motor Cars accounted for US$216 million of imports, up from US$214 million in the comparable 2014 period. ‘Other Industrial Transport Equipment’ increased by 2.4

Mining sector exports rose a bit

percent or US$7.7 million due to higher imports of buses for the transport sector and ‘Machinery and Equipment’ decreased to a value of US$113 million. Passenger Motor Cars fell by US$2.4 million or 3.5 percent to US$64 million.
Major Traditional Domestic Exports were flat at US$350 million, compared to the same period in 2014. “Mining and Quarrying” grew by 4.7 percent or US$12.9 million to US$288 million during January to May 2015. ‘Bauxite’ rose by US$5.3 million or 10 percent to US$58.3 million. Agriculture earned US$9 million, compared to US$10 million earned in the January to May 2014 period.
Non-Traditional Domestic Exports earned US$193 million, 27.7 percent or US$74 million less than the similar period in 2014. All the sub-groups registered declines.

Filed Under: Economy, Feature Stories Tagged With: balance of trade, Jamaican exports, Jamaican Imports

Jamaica’s 2014 trade deficit falls

March 25, 2015 by IC Insider.com

Imports of petroleum fell

Jamaica’s expenditure on merchandise imports during January to November 2014 fell by US$280 million or 5 percent to US$5,287 million when compared to the same period in 2013. Earnings from total exports fell by US$109 million or 7.5 percent to US$1.35 billion. The trade deficit a narrowed to by 4.1 percent or US$171 million to US$3.94 billion, compared to the similar 2013 period.
Major contributors to the fall in imports were declines of Mineral Fuels with a decline of US$154 million or 7.9 per cent, food declined by US$51 million or 5.8 per cent, to US$837 million. Chemicals fell by US$130 million or 18.6 per cent, lower imports of ethanol products were the primary contributor to this decline. Beverages & Tobacco decreased by US$66 million, US$4 million or 6.1 percent below the US$71 million recorded in the similar 2013 period.

Bauxite mining

Increased imports took place in Machinery and Transport Equipment valued at US$847 million, which grew by US$14 million or 1.7 percent and Manufactured Goods grew by US$17 million or 3.1 percent to US$561 million.
Exports|Earnings from traditional exports increased up by US$19 million or 2.7 percent to US$739 million, due to increases in Mining and Quarrying but Non-Traditional domestic exports valued at US$549 million, fell 16.9 percent or US$111 million.

Filed Under: Economy, Feature Stories Tagged With: Economy, Jamaica Exports, Jamaica's trade deficit, Jamaican Imports, Petroleum imports

Imports drop, exports drop

June 30, 2014 by IC Insider.com

Add your HTML code here...

Devaluation of the local currency since the start of 2013 that should be helping move exports upwards had no visible impact on overall exports of goods in the first quarter of this year compared with 2013, it however, could be impacting imports somewhat as imports have fallen partially as a result. Jamaica imported US$1.412 billion </a>of goods down from US$1.647 billion imported in the January to March quarter last year, representing a reduction of US$235 million or 14.3 percent.
Exports on the other hand came in at US$358 million, down from US$469 million in the 2013 quarter. The decrease in exports was US$111 million or 23.6 percent and is due mainly to a fall in Alumina exports which fell from US$236 million in the comparable 2013 period to US$105 million this year. The merchandise trade deficit for the quarter ended at US$1.054 billion compared to US$1.178 billion in the similar quarter of 2013. The information was released by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica today.
Imports| Non-fuel imports during March 2014 quarter declined by US$176 million or 16 percent versus 2013 ending at US$907 million, down from US1.08 billion in the 2013 period. Mineral Fuels, declined by US$59 million or 10.5 percent. Imports of Raw Materials/Intermediate Goods decreased from US$1.11 billion in the 2013 review period to US$863 million in the 2014 review period.
Traditional exports fell by US$37 million to US$168 million in the 2014, down from US$205 million in the 2013 period, a decrease of or 18 percent of this Agricultural commodities fell by US$2.5 million or 35.0 percent and were valued at US$4.6 million. The decline in earnings from “Coffee” exports which fell to US$3 million was the main contributor to this decrease.
Mining and Quarrying was valued at US$135 million, a decrease of 20.1 percent, moving from US$169 million in the 2013 review period.. “Manufacture” recorded a 2 percent decline and was valued at US$28 million compared to the US$28.5 million recorded for the similar January to march 2013 period. Non-traditional domestic exports during January to March 2014 were valued at US$177 million.