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MONDAY, MAY 16, 1983
FEBRUARY PRICE AND VOLUME MOVEMENTS OF EXTERNAL TRADE
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ACCORDING TO STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY (MONDAY) BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT, THE PRICES OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS ROSE ON THE AVERAGE BY 4 PER CENT AND THOSE OF RE-EXPORTS BY 2 PER CENT SO THAT FOR TOTAL EXPORTS, PRICES WERE UP BY 3 PER CENT IN FEBRUARY 1983, AS COMPARED WITH FEBRUARY 1982.
MEANWHILE, THE PRICES OF IMPORTS ROSE BY 4 PER CENT.
AS A RESULT, THE TERMS OF TRADE INDEX (EXPRESSED AS A RATIO OF THE TOTAL EXPORT PRICE INDEX TO THE IMPORT PRICE INDEX) DECREASED BY 1 PER CENT.
THE VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS ROSE BY 15 PER CENT BUT THAT OF RE-EXPORTS DROPPED BY 7 PER CENT SO THAT FOR TOTAL EXPORTS, THE VOLUME WAS UP BY 6 PER CENT.
MEANWHILE, THE VOLUME OF IMPORTS DECREASED BY 13 PER CENT.
COMMENTING ON THESE COMPARATIVE FIGURES, A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN CAUTIONED THAT THEY WERE DISTORTED BY THE TIMING OF THE LUNAR NEW YEAR, WHICH FELL IN FEBRUARY THIS YEAR AND IN JANUARY LAST YEAR.
EXTENDING THE PERIOD OF COMPARISON TO THE TWELVE MONTHS ENDING FEBRUARY THIS YEAR WITH THE TWELVE MONTHS ENDING FEBRUARY 1982, THE PRICES OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS ROSE ON THE AVERAGE BY 5 PER CENT, THOSE OF IMPORTS BY 4 PER CENT AND THOSE OF RE-EXPORTS BY 8 PER CENT.
THE VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS DECREASED BY 1 PER CENT AND THAT OF RE-EXPORTS BY 3 PER CENT, GIVING A 2 PER CENT DECREASE IN THE VOLUME OF TOTAL EXPORTS AND A 2 PER CENT DROP IN THE VOLUME OF IMPORTS.
PRICES ARE BASED ON UNIT VALUES WHICH DO NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT CHANGES IN THE COMPOSITION OR QUALITY OF GOODS TRADED. CHANGES IN THE VOLUME OF TRADE ARE DERIVED FROM CHANGES IN TRADE VALUES, AFTER DISCOUNTING THE EFFECT OF PRICE CHANGES.
THE CHANGES IN THE VALUE, UNIT VALUE AND VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS BY COMMODITY GROUP ARE SHOWN IN TABLE 1 AT THE END.
AS SEEN FROM TABLE 1, THE EXPORT PRICES OF MOST COMMODITY GROUPS INCREASED, FROM 4 PER CENT FOR TEXTILE FABRICS TO 20 PER CENT FOR ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS.
ON THE OTHER HAND, DECREASES IN EXPORT PRICES WERE RECORDED FOR FOOTWEAR (-1%), TEXTILE YARN AND THREAD (-2%) DOMESTIC ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES (-3%), RADIOS OF ALL KINDS (-10%) AND WATCHES AND CLOCKS (-16%).
/CONSIDERABLE