XN000022-1986-06-13 — Page 2

FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 1986

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APRIL EXTERNAL TRADE STATISTICS RELEASED

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THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT TODAY (FRIDAY) RELEASED TRADE VALUE STATISTICS FOR APRIL 1986. TOTAL MERCHANDISE TRADE IN JANUARY TO APRIL 1986, VALUED AT $152 208 MILLION, INCREASED BY 3 PER CENT COMPARED WITH THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR.

ON THE SAME BASIS OF COMPARISON, DOMESTIC EXPORTS INCREASED BY 5 PER CENT TO $40 494 MILLION WHILE RE-EXPORTS DECREASED BY 4 PER CENT TO $33 565 MILLION, SO THAT FOR TOTAL EXPORTS, THE TRADE VALUE INCREASED BY 1 PER CENT. IMPORTS INCREASED BY 6 PER CENT TO $78 149 MILLION.

ALL THE TRADE STATISTICS PRESENTED HERE ARE MEASURED AT CURRENT PRICES AND NO ACCOUNT HAS BEEN TAKEN OF THE CHANGES IN PRICES BETWEEN THE PERIODS OF COMPARISON. A SEPARATE ANALYSIS OF THE PRICE AND VOLUME MOVEMENTS OF EXTERNAL TRADE FOR APRIL 1986 WILL BE RELEASED IN EARLY JULY.

THE CHANGES IN DOMESTIC EXPORTS TO THE TEN MAJOR MARKETS ARE SHOWN IN TABLE 1.

COMPARING THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF 1986 WITH THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR, THE VALUE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS TO THE U.S. INCREASED BY 6 PER CENT. ANALYSED BY COMMODITY, INCREASES WERE RECORDED IN CLOTHING (BY $457 MILLION OR 7 PER CENT); MISCELLANEOUS MANUFACTURED ARTICLES, INCLUDING MAINLY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND PARTS AND ACCESSORIES THEREOF (BY $245 MILLION OR 10 PER CENT) AS WELL AS PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS, EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES AND OPTICAL GOODS, WATCHES AND CLOCKS (BY $178 MILLION OR 16 PER CENT).

ON THE OTHER HAND, DECREASES WERE RECORDED IN ELECTRICAL MACHINERY, APPARATUS AND APPLIANCES, AND ELECTRICAL PARTS THEREOF (BY $173 MILLION OR 10 PER CENT) AS WELL AS TRAVEL GOODS, HANDBAGS AND SIMILAR CONTAINERS (BY $46 MILLION OR 21 PER CENT).

MOST COMMODITIES EXPORTED TO CHINA DECREASED IN VALUE, PARTICULARLY OFFICE MACHINES AND AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING EQUIPMENT (BY $756 MILLION OR 93 PER CENT); TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND SOUND RECORDING AND REPRODUCING APPARATUS AND EQUIPMENT (BY $404 MILLION OR 44 PER CENT) AS WELL AS ELECTRICAL MACHINERY, APPARATUS AND APPLIANCES, AND ELECTRICAL PARTS THEREOF (BY $190 MILLION OR 43 PER CENT). HOWEVER, INCREASES WERE REGISTERED FOR TEXTILES (BY $235 MILLION OR 41 PER CENT) AND TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT OTHER THAN AIR CUSHION VEHICLES (BY $55 MILLION OR 68 040 PER CENT).

/INCREASES IN