In the months from January to July 2022, Chilean exports rose to USD 59.384 million, with a growth of 10,2% compared to the same period in 2021. For its part, imports amounted to USD 61.240 million, with an increase of 27%, in the same period, according to a report by the Undersecretariat of International Economic Relations (SUBREI), with figures from the Central Bank.
Copper shipments totaled USD 27.708 million, experiencing a drop of 7,8% compared to the first seven months of 2021. On the other hand, The country's export dynamism continues to be supported by non-copper supply, which has accumulated shipments abroad for more than USD 31.676 million, marking an increase of 33% compared to 2021.
Among the sectors that explain this expansion are: Lithium (+USD 3.874 billion), salmon (+USD 824 billion), Fertilizers (+USD 396 billion), molybdenum oxide (+USD 260 billion), potassium nitrate (+USD 166 billion), iodo (+USD 163 billion), sawn timber (+USD 162 billion), bird meat (+USD 156 million) and machinery (+USD 91 million). In this way, non-copper sales account for 53,3% of the country's exports.
For its part, services provided abroad exceeded USD 820 million, that is, an increase of 5,9% compared to the first seven months of 2021. The sector's exports reached 133 destination markets, led by the United States (USD 310 million), Peru (USD 149 million), Colombia (USD 66 million), the United Kingdom (USD 32 million) and Spain (USD 27 million).
El Undersecretary Jose Miguel Ahumada He explained that the South American country's trade "continues to rise, contributing to improving investment prospects and job creation."
“It is a priority to increase opportunities for our entrepreneurs, strengthening their integration into regional value chains. To make this leap in our exportable offering, it is essential to create innovation networks in the areas of manufacturing, services and the digital economy, along with developing production chains around electromobility and green energy. Only in this way will we be able to have higher quality employees and increase the degree of sophistication of our exports,” said the authority.
“We have the challenge of diversifying our exports in three dimensions: in terms of markets, types of products and company size. For example, the drop in copper exports has been offset by increases in shipments of lithium and salmon, among other products. In terms of markets, the increases in export amounts to South Korea, the Pacific Alliance and Japan stand out. We still have a challenge regarding increasing the participation of our SMEs in Chilean trade. We are working on that.”
So far this year, the country's exports have been directed to a total of 190 destination markets, highlighting that 117 of them registered an increase in sales. The largest increases in terms of export value were shown by China, United States, South Korea, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Belgium and Thailand.
95,5% of shipments were shipped to economies with which Chile has trade agreements in force. China led shipments with USD 23.697 million, registering an increase of 19,4% compared to the accumulated figure of July 2021, generating 39% of foreign sales for the period.
Meanwhile, the country's imports rose to USD 61.240 billion, growing by 27% compared to 2021, again showing double-digit increases in all types of goods: intermediate (36%), consumer (22%) and capital (13%).
At the product level, the increase in imports was led by the categories of diesel (+USD 2.433 million), chemical products (+USD 1.021 million), clothing (+USD 940 million), coal (+USD 747 million), gasoline (+USD 668 million) and automobiles (+USD 498 million), among others.
July 2022
During the month of July 2022, the country's trade exchange totaled $16.652 million, growing by 4% compared to the seventh month of 2021.
The foreign sales they arrived at $7.957 million, showing a 0,3% increase compared to July 2021, the reasons for the moderation in shipments for the month are directly related to the 25% drop recorded in copper shipments (-USD 1.140 billion), the country's main export product. However, this decrease was largely offset by the increase in shipments of lithium, salmon, molybdenum oxide, fertilizers, iodine, nitrates, mollusks, crustaceans, poultry meat, bottled wine and dehydrated fruits.
The imports For their part, they reached the $8.694 million, experiencing an increase of 7,8% compared to July 2021. The product categories that grew the most were diesel, gasoline, coal, clothing, fertilizers, trucks, natural gas and oil.
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