XN000022-1989-04-11 — Page 9

TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 1989

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GERMANY,

PER

HOWEVER, DOMESTIC EXPORTS TO THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF FRANCE AND THE U.S.A. DECREASED BY 10 PER CENT, 10 PER CENT AND 7 CENT RESPECTIVELY IN VALUE TERMS.

IMPORTS IN JANUAPY TO FEBRUARY 1989 FROM ALL MAJOR SUPPLIERS INCREASED IN VALUE TERMS COMPARED WITH THE SAME PERIOD IN 1988.

SIGNIFICANT INCREASES WERE RECORDED IN IMPORTS FROM SINGAPORE (+43 PER CENT), ITALY (+39 PER CENT), THE U.S.A. (+35 PER CENT), CHINA (+35 PER CENT), TAIWAN (+34 PER CENT), THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA (+31 PER CENT), THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY (+30 PER CENT) AND JAPAN (+29 PER CENT).

OVER THE SAME PERIOD OF COMPARISON, RE-EXPORTS TO ITALY, THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, AUSTRALIA, CHINA AND THE UNITED KINGDOM INCREASED SUBSTANTIALLY IN VALUE TERNS, BY 76 PER CENT, 61 PER CENT,

PER CENT, 57 PER CENT, AND 55 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY.

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INCREASES WERE ALSO RECORDED FOR THE OTHER MAJOR MARKETS : THE U.S.A. (+32 PER CENT), JAPAN (+48 PER CENT), TAIWAN (+32 PER CENT) AND THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA (+17 PER CENT).

EXTENDING THE PERIOD OF COMPARISON TO THE 12 MONTHS ENDING FEBRUARY 1989 WITH THE 12 MONTHS ENDING FEBRUARY 1988, DOMESTIC EXPORTS INCREASED BY 9 PER CENT TO $218,851 MILLION, WHILE RE-EXPORTS AT $289,766 MILLION WAS UP BY 49 PER CENT.

TAKING DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS TOGETHER, TOTAL EXPORTS ROSE BY 39 PER CENT. IMPORTS INCREASED BY 32 PER CENT TO $518,784 MILLION. TOTAL MERCHANDISE TRADE, AS A WHOLE, INCREASED BY 30 PER CENT.

CURRENT BETWEEN

ALL TRADE STATISTICS PRESENTED HERE ARE MEASURED AT PRICES AND NO ACCOUNT HAS BEEN TAKEN OF THE CHANGES IN PRICES THE PERIODS OF COMPARISON. A SEPARATE ANALYSIS OF THE PRICE AND VOLUME MOVEMENTS OF EXTERNAL TRADE IN FEBRUARY 1989 WILL BE RELEASED IN EARLY MAY 1989.

THE CHANGES IN DOMESTIC EXPORTS ΤΟ HONG KONG'S 10 MAJOR MARKETS ARE SHOWN IN TABLE 1.

COMPARING THE FIRST TWO MONTHS OF 1989 WITH THE SAME PERIOD IN 1988, INCREASES IN DOMESTIC EXPORTS IN VALUE TERMS WERE RECORDED IN MOST MAJOR COMMODITY DIVISIONS.

THE MORE NOTABLE ONES WERE OFFICE MACHINES AND AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING EQUIPMENT (BY $445 MILLION OR 27 PER CENT); ELECTRICAL MACHINERY, APPARATUS AND APPLIANCES AND ELECTRICAL PARTS THEREOF (BY $315 MILLION OR 14 PER CENT); ARTIFICIAL RESINS AND PLASTIC MATERIALS, AND CELLULOSE ESTERS AND ETHERS (BY $193 MILLION OR 75 PER CENT); AND GENERAL INDUSTRIAL MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT, AND MACHINE PARTS (BY $140 MILLION OR 61 PER CENT).

/DOMESTIC EXPORTS