The country’s foreign merchandise trade surplus expanded more than 9% month-on-month in May, said the figures released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS).
In absolute terms, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, India and China were among the largest export markets of Qatar; while imports mainly came from Germany, China, the US and the UK in May 2017.
A strong expansion in shipments to China, Singapore and Japan led Qatar’s total exports (valued free-on-board) soar 18.4% year-on-year to QR20.19bn in May. On a monthly basis, it grew 7.6%.
The country’s total exports of domestic products increased 16% year-on-year to QR18.89bn in May 2017. It was up 5% month-on-month.
Qatar’s exports on non-crude grew faster year-on-year at 29.7% to QR1.14bn, petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons by 21.6% to QR11.98bn and crude by 8.3% to QR3.32bn; whereas those of other commodities were down 1.4% to QR2.46bn.
On a monthly basis, Qatar’s exports of crude and petroleum gases expanded 19.4% and 4.3%; while those of other commodities and non-crude fell 4.3% and 1.8% respectively.
Petroleum gases constituted 63.42% of total exports of domestic products in May 2017 compared to 60.5% a year-ago period; crude 17.58% (18.86%), non-crude 6.03% (5.41%) and other commodities 13.02% (15.29%).
On exports destinations, Japan accounted for 16% of total exports from Qatar in May this year; followed by South Korea 14%, Singapore 11%, India 10% and China 9%.
Qatar’s exports to Singapore grew 46.1% year-on-year to QR2.25bn, those to South Korea by 19.5% to QR2.88bn and Japan by 15% to QR3.22bn, while those to India fell 8.37% to QR2.08bn. Shipments to China were almost flat at QR1.89bn.
Against April 2017 levels, Doha’s exports to China more than doubled, those to Singapore soared 80%, Japan by 16.25%, South Korea by 9.09% and India by 7.7%.
The country’s re-exports expanded 68.3% year-on-year to QR1.3bn this May. On a monthly basis, it grew 67.4%.
Qatar’s total imports (valued at cost insurance and freight) were down 0.3% year-on-year to QR9.45bn, but on a monthly basis, it grew 5.8%.
Germany accounted for 10% of Qatar’s imports in May 2017, followed by China, the US and the UAE (10% each), and the UK (6%). On a yearly basis, Qatar’s imports from China fell 6.41% to QR0.98bn, from the US by 5.53% to QR0.97bn and the UAE by 5.04% to QR0.96bn; whereas those from the UK soared 42.82% to QR0.53bn and Germany by 18.94% to QR1.04bn.
Against the previous month’s levels, shipments from Germany has more than doubled, those from the UK expanded 48.45% and the UAE by a marginal 0.31%; whereas those from the US and China declined 8.72% and 3.64% respectively.
Turbojets, motor cars and electrical apparatus for line telephony comprised the main components in Qatar’s import basket in May 2017.
The imports of turbojets, turbo propellers and other gas turbines expanded 69.6% year-on-year to QR0.56bn; while those of electrical apparatus for line telephony declined 36.7% to QR0.19bn, other commodities by 1.7% to QR8.2bn and motor cars and other motor vehicles by 0.6% to QR0.49bn.
Compared to April 2017 levels, Qatar’s imports of electrical apparatus for line telephony shrank 43.9% and motor cars by 20.3%; whereas those of turbojets grew 40.4% and other commodities by 8.3%.