Argentina's trade balance registered a positive balance of 1.476 billion dollars in July, the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC) said on Tuesday (25.08.2020).
However, Exports fell by 16,3% while imports dropped by 30,1%. As a result, the trade balance was positive, at US$1476 million.
“The trade surplus occurred in the context of a fall in both exports and imports. This trend, with a positive variation in the trade surplus as a result of greater falls in imports compared to the fall in exports, has been recorded since January 2020 to date,” the agency explained.
In that sense, the exports In July, exports decreased by 16,3% (- US$ 953 million) compared to the same month in 2019, due to a 6,3% drop in prices and 10,7% in quantities. In seasonally adjusted terms, exports fell by 0,8% compared to June 2020, while the cycle trend showed a negative variation of 1,0%.
Exports of All sectors decreased year-on-year, with the most significant drop being in industrial manufactures (-32,3%). This was followed by fuels and energy (-20,3%), primary products (-10,0%) and agricultural manufacturing (-9,0%).
The poor export performance is also evident when analyzing the exchange with Argentina's main trading partners.. Brazil ranked first: in July, US$ 557 million was exported to the neighboring country (a drop of -34,9% (compared to the same period last year), the drop in sales was caused by lower demand in that country due to economic difficulties, while China positioned itself in second place with US$ 553 million (which meant a fall of -14,3% compared to July 2019).
The ranking is completed by the United States (US$ 369 million), India (US$ 312 million), Vietnam (US$ 269 million), Chile (US$ 238 million), the Netherlands (US$ 201 million), Algeria (US$ 118 million), Egypt (US$ 109 million), Saudi Arabia (US$ 106 million) and Indonesia (US$ 100 million), among others.
Regarding the imports, in July decreased by 30,1% (-US$ 1.478 million) compared to the same month of the previous year, due to a 24,2% decrease in quantities and a 7,8% decrease in prices. In seasonally adjusted terms, imports decreased by 1,2% compared to June 2020, while the cycle trend showed a negative variation of 0,1%.
All economic uses registered negative variations. Imports of fuels and lubricants fell -54,8%, followed by passenger motor vehicles (-51,6%), parts and accessories for capital goods (-50,9%), capital goods (-24,0%), consumer goods (-16,7%) and intermediate goods (-15,9%). The rest of the imports, which represent 1,1% of the total, rose 65,2%.
The main countries of origin of imports were China (US$ 751 million and a negative variation of -20,4% year-on-year), Brazil (US$ 692 million and -25,4%) and the United States (US$ 382 million and -45,9%).
The list was completed by Paraguay (US$216 million), Germany (US$126 million), Bolivia (US$81 million), Italy (US$73 million), Vietnam (US$70 million), France (US$70 million), Mexico (US$66 million) and India (US$62 million), among others.
Finally, the three main countries with which a surplus result was obtained were India ($250 million), Vietnam (US$ 199 million) and Chile (US $ 191 million).
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