Increased shipments of crude and non-crude led Qatar register a 3.5% month-on-month growth in trade surplus this April, according to the official statistics.
The increase in the country's merchandise trade surplus has been enabled by robust expansion in the shipments to South Korea during the period in review, said the figures released by the Planning and Statistics Authority.
Qatar's trade surplus however showed a 35.6% plunge on an annual basis in April 2023 as the exports fell faster than the imports.
The country's total exports of goods (including exports of goods of domestic origin and re-exports) were QR30.69bn, showing a 0.5% and 29.4% decline month-on-month and year-on-year respectively in April 2023.
The exports of other commodities expanded 6.7% on a monthly basis to QR3.65bn in April 2023, crude by 3.2% to QR5.04bn and non-crude by 2.6% to QR2.61bn; whereas petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons' exports fell 2.4% to QR18.57bn.
On a yearly basis, the exports of petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons plummeted 33.2%, non-crude by 29%, crude by 25.8% and other commodities by 20.1% in the review period.
Petroleum gases constituted 62.19% of the exports of domestic products in April 2023 compared to 64.91% a year ago period; followed by crude 16.88% (15.84%), non-crude 8.74% (8.6%) and other commodities 12.22% (10.65%).
In April 2023, Qatar's shipments to China amounted to QR5.63bn or 18.3% of the total exports of the country, followed by South Korea QR5.11bn (16.6%), India QR3.51bn (11.4%), Singapore QR2.16bn (7%), and Japan QR2.05bn (6.7%).
On a monthly basis, Qatar's exports to South Korea were up 4.8%; while those to Japan declined 18.19%, China by 12.11%, Singapore by 6.22% and South Korea by 4.8% in April 2023.
On a yearly basis, Qatar's exports to Japan plunged 54.89%, India by 36.5%, Singapore by 25.44% and China by 14.28%; whereas those to South Korea soared 22.01% in the review period.
Qatar's total imports (valued at cost insurance and freight) amounted to QR8.69bn, which showed 9.3% and 6.3% decrease month-on-month and year-on-year respectively in April 2023.
The country's imports from the US stood at QR1.28bn, which accounted for 14.7% of the total imports; China QR1.13bn (13%); India QR0.53bn (6.1%), Italy QR0.47bn (5.4%) and Germany QR0.42bn (4.9%) in the review period.
On a monthly basis, the country's imports from India shrank 23.81%, China by 22.66%, Italy by 6.97% and the US by 3.4%; whereas those from Germany shot up 9.3% in April 2023.
On a yearly basis, Qatar's imports from the US plummeted 30.84%, Germany by 20.64%, Italy by 18.64%, India by 12.29% and China by 2.85% in the review period.
In April 2023, the group of "Motor Cars & Other Motor Vehicles for The Transport of Persons” was at the top of the imported group of commodities, with QR0.4bn, a fall of 1.5% year-on-year in the review period.
In the second place was "Turbojets, Turbo propellers and Other Gas Turbines; Parts Thereof" with QR0.36bn, showing an annual contraction of 47.5%.
In third place was "Electrical Apparatus for Line Telephony/Telegraphy, Telephone Sets; Parts thereof” with QR0.2bn, showing a 21.4% shrinkage in April 2023.
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