XN000022-1987-05-08 — Page 7

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FRIDAY, MAY 8, 1987

PRICE, VOLUME MOVEMENTS OF FEBRUARY EXTERNAL TRADE

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STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY (FRIDAY) BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT INDICATE THAT THE VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS GREW BY 24 PER CENT AND 44 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY IN THE FIRST TWO MONTHS OF 1987 AS COMPARED WITH THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR. HENCE, THERE WAS AN OVER ALL INCREASE OF 32 PER CENT IN THE VOLUME OF TOTAL EXPORTS.

IMPORTS INCREASED BY 29 PER CENT IN VOLUME TERMS IN THE FIRST TWO MONTHS OF 1987 AS COMPARED WITH THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR. ON THE SAME BASIS OF COMPARISON, THE PRICES OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS ROSE BY 3 PER CENT AND 2 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY, SO THAT THE PRICES OF TOTAL EXPORTS ALSO INCREASED BY 3 PER CENT.

PRICES OF IMPORTS ROSE BY ↳ 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 1 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.

AS TRADE FIGURES FOR THE BEGINNING MONTHS OF A YEAR TEND TO BE MORE SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECTED BY SEASONAL FACTORS, IT IS MORE USEFUL TO CONSIDER FIGURES COVERING A LONGER PERIOD. COMPARING THE THREE MONTHS ENDING FEBRUARY 1987 WITH THE THREE MONTHS ENDING FEBRUARY 1986, THE VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS INCREASED BY 22 PER CENT, WHILE THE VOLUME OF RE-EXPORTS INCREASED BY 38 PER CENT, SO THAT FOR TOTAL EXPORTS, AN INCREASE OF 29 PER CENT WAS RECORDED IN VOLUME TERMS.

THE VOLUME OF IMPORTS ROSE BY 24 PER CENT. ON THE SAME BASIS OF COMPARISON, PRICES OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS INCREASED BY PER CENT AND 2 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY, WHILE IMPORT PRICES ROSE BY 4 PER CENT.

EXTENDING THE PERIOD OF COMPARISON TO THE 12 MONTHS ENDING FEBRUARY 1987 WITH THE 12 MONTHS ENDING FEBRUARY 1986, THE VOLUME OF BOTH DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS INCREASED BY 21 PER CENT, SO THE VOLUME OF TOTAL EXPORTS ALSO INCREASED BY 21 PER CENT. THE VOLUME OF IMPORTS ROSE BY 17 PER CENT, OVER THE SAME PERIOD, THE PRICES OF BOTH DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS ROSE BY 2 PER CENT, WHILE THOSE OF IMPORTS ROSE BY 5 PER CENT.

THE CHANGES IN THE VALUE, UNIT VALUE AND VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS BY COMMODITY GROUP FOR FEBRUARY 1987 AS COMPARED WITH FEBRUARY 1986 ARE SHOWN IN TABLE 1.

/AS CAN