XN000022-1992-05-08 — Page 10

ON

FRIDAY, MAY 8, 1992

PRICE AND VOLUME MOVEMENTS OF EXTERNAL TRADE IN FEBRUARY

*

THE VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS IN THE FIRST TWO MONTHS THIS YEAR DECREASED BY 7%, WHILE THAT OF RE-EXPORTS INCREASED BY 23% AS COMPARED WITH THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR, ACCORDING ΤΟ STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY (FRIDAY) BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.

TAKING DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS TOGETHER, THE VOLUME OF TOTAL EXPORTS INCREASED BY 13%. IMPORTS INCREASED BY 18% IN VOLUME.

THE GROWTH IN THE VOLUME OF TRADE IS DERIVED FROM THE GROWTH IN TRADE VALUES WITH THE EFFECT OF PRICE CHANGES HAVING BEEN DISCOUNTED.

2%

AS REGARDS PRICE CHANGES OVER THE SAME PERIOD OF COMPARISON, PRICES OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS ROSE

BY 1% AND RESPECTIVELY, WHILE THOSE OF IMPORTS WERE VIRTUALLY UNCHANGED.

THE

PRICE CHANGES ARE REFLECTED BY CHANGES IN UNIT VALUE ARE COMPILED BASED ON AVERAGE UNIT VALUES COMMODITIES, BASED ON SPECIFIC PRICE DATA.

WHICH

INDEXES,

OR, FOR CERTAIN

EXPORT PRICE

THE TERMS OF TRADE INDEX IS THE RATIO OF TOTAL INDEX ΤΟ IMPORT PRICE INDEX. IT INCREASED BY 2% IN THE FIRST TWO MONTHS OF 1992 COMPARED WITH THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR.

COMPARING FEBRUARY 1992 WITH FEBRUARY 1991, THE VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS AND RE-EXPORTS INCREASED BY 22% AND 55% RESPECTIVELY. THE VOLUME OF TOTAL EXPORTS INCREASED BY 44% WHILE THAT OF IMPORTS INCREASED BY 53%.

CAUTION SHOULD BE EXERCISED IN INTERPRETING THE CHANGES IN THE VOLUME OF TRADE IN ANY INDIVIDUAL MONTH IN ISOLATION, IN VIEW OF THE FLUCTUATIONS THAT MAY OCCUR FROM MONTH TO MONTH. IN PARTICULAR, TRADE FIGURES FOR FEBRUARY THIS YEAR ARE AFFECTED BY THE TIMING OF THE LUNAR NEW YEAR HOLIDAYS.

OVER THE SAME PERIOD OF COMPARISON, THE PRICES OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS WERE VIRTUALLY UNCHANGED WHILE THOSE OF RE-EXPORTS INCREASED BY 1%. IMPORT PRICES DECREASED BY 1%.

THE CHANGES IN THE VALUE, UNIT VALUE AND VOLUME OF

OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS BY PRINCIPAL COMMODITY GROUP FOR FEBRUARY 1992 AS COMPARED WITH FEBRUARY 1991 ARE SHOWN IN TABLE 1.

COMMODITY GROUPS THAT RECORDED CONSIDERABLE INCREASE IN VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS INCLUDED METAL MANUFACTURES (+42%); TEXTILE FABRICS (+37%); WATCHES AND CLOCKS (+30%); TEXTILE YARN AND THREAD (+29%); ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS (+29%); AND CLOTHING (+17%).

ON THE OTHER HAND, DECREASES IN VOLUME OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS WERE RECORDED IN RADIOS OF ALL KINDS (-43%); DOMESTIC ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES (-29%); AND TEXTILE MADE-UPS AND RELATED ARTICLES (-10%).

/THE PRICES

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