XN000022-1986-06-06 — Page 3

FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 1986

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PRICE, VOLUME MOVEMENTS OF MARCH EXTERNAL TRADE

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STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT INDICATED THAT THE VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS ROSE BY 1 PER CENT IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1986 AS COMPARED WITH THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR. THE VOLUME OF RE-EXPORTS

HOWEVER

DECLINED BY 6 PER CENT, THERE WAS, THEREFORE, AN OVERALL DECREASE OF 2 PER CENT IN THE VOLUME OF TOTAL EXPORTS.

IMPORTS INCREASED BY 1 PER CENT IN VOLUME TERMS. ON THE SAME BASIS OF COMPARISON, THE PRICES OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS AND THOSE OF TOTAL EXPORTS REMAINED UNCHANGED.

PRICES OF IMPORTS, ON THE OTHER HAND, ROSE BY 2 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.

PRICES ARE BASED ON UNIT VALUES WHICH DO NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT CHANGES IN THE COMPOSITION OR QUALITY OF GOODS TRADED, EXCEPT FOR SOME SELECTED COMMODITIES FOR WHICH SPECIFICATION PRICE INDEXES ARE COMPILED. THE VOLUME OF TRADE IS DERIVED FROM TRADE VALUES BY DISCOUNTING THE EFFECT OF PRICE CHANGES.

EXTENDING THE PERIOD OF COMPARISON TO THE 12 MONTHS ENDING MARCH 1986 WITH THE 12 MONTHS ENDING MARCH 1985, THE VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS DECREASED BY 5 PER CENT, WHILE THAT OF RE-EXPORTS INCREASED BY 14 PER CENT. GIVING AN INCREASE OF 2 PER CENT IN THE VOLUME OF TOTAL EXPORTS.

THE VOLUME OF IMPORTS ROSE BY 4 PER CENT. OVER THE SAME PERIOD, PRICES OF RE-EXPORTS REMAINED UNCHANGED, WHILE THOSE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS DROPPED BY 1 PER CENT AND OF IMPORTS DROPPED BY 2 PER CENT,

THE CHANGES IN THE VALUE UNIT VALUE AND VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS BY COMMODITY GROUP FOR MARCH 1986 AS COMPARED WITH MARCH 1985 ARE SHOWN IN TABLE 1,

AS CAN BE SEEN FROM TABLE 1, DOMESTIC EXPORT PRICES OF MOST COMMODITY GROUPS FELL IN MARCH 1986 COMPARED WITH MARCH 1985. THESE INCLUDED DOMESTIC ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES (-10 PER CENT); RADIOS OF ALL KINDS (-9 PER CENT); METAL ORES AND SCRAP (-5 PER CENT); TEXTILE MADE-UPS AND RELATED ARTICLES (-4 PER CENT); TEXTILE FABRICS (-3 PER CENT) CLOTHING (-2 PER CENT) AS WELL AS TEXTILE YARN AND THREAD (-2 PER CENT).

INCREASES IN DOMESTIC EXPORT PRICES WERE, HOWEVER, RECORDED FOR ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS (+11 PER CENT); TRAVEL GOODS, HANDBAGS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES (+7 PER CENT); WATCHES AND CLOCKS (+3 PER CENT) AS WELL AS FOOTWEAR (+2 PER CENT).

/THE DOMESTIC