Foreign Trade: Indices Decline in 2020 (HCP)

Foreign trade indices went downward over the past year compared to 2019, according to the High Commission for Planning (HCP).

The index of import unit values ​​fell by 5% and that of export unit values ​​by 2%, said the HCP in its recent note on Foreign trade indices.

In the 4th quarter alone, the index of import unit values ​​fell by 7.7% following the drop in unit values ​​of “energy and lubricants” by 30.3%, of “finished consumer products” (5.3%), “semi-finished products” (4%), “finished products of industrial equipment” (2%) and “crude products of mineral origin” (28.9%), said the same source. On the other hand, this index increased in “food, drinks and tobacco” by 1.2%.

The export unit value index fell by 0.9% in Q4-2020 due to the decline in unit values ​​of “finished products of industrial equipment” by 2.7%, of “food, beverages and tobacco” (2.7%), “crude products of mineral origin” (5.3%) and “energy and lubricants” (29.3%).

The indices of the average values ​​of “finished agricultural equipment products”, “semi-finished products” and “finished consumer products” increased by 11.7%, 1.6% and 1.9. % respectively, thus mitigating the fall in the overall index of export unit values.