XN000022-1983-08-07 — Page 2

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 7, 1983

PRICE AND VOLUME MOVEMENTS OF EXTERNAL TRADE FOR MAY

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THE PRICES OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS ROSE, ON AVERAGE, BY 6 PER CENT AND 9 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY SO THAT, FOR TOTAL EXPORTS, PRICES WERE UP BY 7 PER CENT IN MAY 1983 AS COMPARED WITH MAY 1982, ACCORDING TO STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.

MEANWHILE, THE PRICES OF IMPORTS ROSE BY 9 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) DROPPED BY 2 PER CENT.

THE VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS ROSE BY 10 PER CENT AND THAT OF RE-EXPORTS ROSE BY 4 PER CENT SO THAT AN 8 PER CENT INCREASE WAS RECORDED IN THE VOLUME OF TOTAL EXPORTS. THE VOLUME OF IMPORTS

INCREASED BY 13 PER CENT.

SINCE THE PRICES OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND OF RE-EXPORTS BOTH INCREASED BY 4 PER CENT IN THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF 1983 COMPARED WITH THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR, DOMESTIC EXPORTS GREW BY 6 PER CENT AND RE-EXPORTS BY 4 PER CENT IN VOLUME TERMS. AS THE PRICES OF IMPORTS WERE 5 PER CENT HIGHER OVER THE SAME PERIOD, IMPORTS RECORDED A 2 PER CENT GROWTH IN VOLUME TERMS.

EXTENDING THE PERIOD OF COMPARISON TO THE 12 MONTHS ENDING MAY THIS YEAR WITH THE 12 MONTHS ENDING MAY 1982, THE PRICES OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND IMPORTS BOTH ROSE, ON AVERAGE, BY 4 PER CENT AND THOSE OF RE-EXPORTS BY 6 PER CENT, NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE WAS REGISTERED IN THE VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS, SO THAT THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN THE VOLUME OF TOTAL EXPORTS. HOWEVER, A ONE PER CENT INCREASE WAS RECORDED 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.

AS SEEN FROM TABLE 1, THE EXPORT PRICES OF MOST COMMODITY GROUPS INCREASED, FROM 2 PER CENT FOR TEXTILE YARN AND THREAD TO 45 PER CENT FOR ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS. ON THE OTHER HAND, DECREASES IN EXPORT PRICES WERE RECORDED FOR RADIOS OF ALL KINDS (-3 PER CENT) AND WATCHES AND CLOCKS (-9 PER CENT).

CONSIDERABLE GROWTH IN THE VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS

WAS RECORDED FOR METAL ORES AND SCRAP (+138 PER CENT), TEXTILE YARN AND THREAD AND WATCHES AND CLOCKS (+40 PER CENT FOR EACH CATEGORY). HOWEVER, SLIGHT TO MODERATE DECREASES IN EXPORT VOLUME WERE REGISTERED FOR RADIOS OF ALL KINDS (-1 PER CENT), TRAVEL QOODS, HANDBAGS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES (-6 PER CENT) AND FOOTWEAR (-14 PER CENT).

THE CHANGES