XN000022-1986-07-05 — Page 2

SATURDAY, JULY 5, 1986

PRICE, VOLUME MOVEMENTS OF APRIL EXTERNAL TRADE

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STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT INDICATED THAT THE VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS ROSE BY 5 PER CENT IN THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF 1986 AS COMPARED WITH T'IE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR. THE VOLUME OF RE-EXPORTS, HOWEVER, DECLINED BY 4 PER CENT. THERE WAS THEREFORE AN OVERALL INCREASE OF 1 PER CENT IN THE VOLUME OF TOTAL EXPORTS.

IMPORTS INCREASED BY 3 PER CENT IN VOLUME TERMS. ON THE SAME BASIS OF COMPARISON, THE PRICES OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS AND HENCE ALSO THOSE OF TOTAL EXPORTS REMAINED UNCHANGED.

PRICES OF IMPORTS, ON THE OTHER HAND, ROSE BY 3 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 3 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 APRIL 1986 WITH THE 12 MONTHS ENDING APRIL 1985, THE VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS DECREASED BY 3 PER CENT, WHILE THAT OF RE-EXPORTS INCREASED BY 10 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 DOMÉSTIC EXPORTS AND IMPORTS BOTH DROPPED BY 1 PER CENT,

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

AS CAN BE SEEN FROM TABLE 1, DOMESTIC EXPORT PRICES OF MOST COMMODITY GROUPS FELL IN APRIL 1986 COMPARED WITH APRIL 1985. THESE INCLUDED RADIOS OF ALL KINDS (-11 PER CENT); DOMESTIC ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES (-7 PER CENT); METAL ORES AND SCRAP (-5 PER CENT); TEXTILE FABRICS (-3 PER CENT) AS WELL AS TEXTILE YARN AND THREAD (-2 PER CENT).

INCREASES IN DOMESTIC EXPORT PRICES WERE, HOWEVER, RECORDED FOR TRAVEL GOODS, HANDBAGS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES (+9 PER CENT); WATCHES AND CLOCKS (+5 PER CENT); FOOTWEAR (+2 PER CENT) AS WELL AS ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS (+1 PER CENT).

/THE DO... VIC