Argentina's trade balance reached a positive balance of USD 296 million in January, below the USD 1.068 million it had in the same month of 2021, the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC) announced on Tuesday (22.02.2022).
The reduction in the trade surplus is explained by the sharp rise in imports compared to exports. According to the INDEC report, Exports totaled USD 635 million, up 12,9% year-on-year, while imports totaled USD 1.407 million, 36,6% above the level of the same month in 2021.
In addition, exports registered this increase due to the 20,5% increase in prices, as the quantities fell by 6,3%. Thus, at the level of items, exports of primary products increased by 79,6%; manufactures of industrial origin, by 32,2%; and fuels and energy, by 12,5%; while manufactures of agricultural origin registered a decrease of 24,2%, according to the report.
The Imports reached a 20,5% increase in quantities and 13% on prices. All the Economic uses of imports registered positive variations, except for passenger motor vehicles, which fell by 24,7%. Capital goods revenue rose by 37,7%, while intermediate goods rose by 46,6%. Parts and accessories for capital goods rose by 29,8% and fuels and lubricants rose by 36,5%. In the case of consumer goods, the annual increase was 36,1% and the rest, 50,0%, mostly the increase corresponds to goods shipped by postal services (couriers).
In January 2022, the main destinations Plans exports Argentines were: Brazil, China, Chile, the Netherlands, India, the United States, Indonesia, Algeria, Peru and Morocco, in that order, which together accounted for 53,4% of total foreign sales.
Meanwhile, the top ten countries of origin of the imports were: China, Brazil, United States, Germany, Thailand, Italy, India, Vietnam, Mexico and Bolivia, which represented 72,3% of total foreign purchases.
The higher surpluses corresponded to trade with Chile (USD 298 million), Netherlands (285 million), Indonesia (170 million), Algeria (168 million), Peru (137 million), Morocco (128 million) and India (126 million); while the most important deficits were recorded with China (USD -1.135 million), Brazil (-308 million), Germany (-127 million), Thailand (-125 million), United States (-104 million), Italy (-66 million), Japan (-57 million), Bolivia (-54 million), United Kingdom (-47 million) and France (-46 million). (INDEC technical report)
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