XN000022-1994-06-07 — Page 10

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TUESDAY, JUNE 7,

1994

SIGNIFICANT INCREASES IN IMPORT VOLUME WERE NOTED OF MAN-MADE FIBRES; CHEMICAL ELEMENTS AND COMPOUNDS; WOOD, LUMBER AND CORK; AND RAW COTTON. HOWEVER, CONSIDERABLE DECREASES WERE RECORDED IN THE IMPORT VOLUME OF WOVEN FABRICS OF WOOL AND MIXTURES; AND BASE METALS (OTHER THAN IRON AND STEEL).

IMPORTS OF FUELS DECREASED BY 25% IN VOLUME IN MARCH 1994 AS COMPARED WITH MARCH 1993.

AS REGARDS CAPITAL GOODS, THE IMPORT VOLUME INCREASED BY 5.5% IN MARCH 1994 OVER MARCH 1993.

NOTABLE INCREASES WERE RECORDED IN THE IMPORT VOLUME OF ELECTRICAL MACHINERY; AND SCIENTIFIC, MEDICAL, OPTICAL, MEASURING AND CONTROLLING INSTRUMENTS AND APPARATUS. HOWEVER, THE IMPORT VOLUME OF CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY AND TEXTILE MACHINERY DECLINED.

COMPARING MARCH 1994 WITH MARCH 1993, THE IMPORT PRICES OF MOST END-USE CATEGORIES INCREASED: CONSUMER GOODS (+3.1%), CAPITAL GOODS (+2.8%), RAW MATERIALS AND SEMI-MANUFACTURES (+2.0%), AND FOODSTUFFS (+0.3%). THE IMPORT PRICES OF FUELS, HOWEVER, DECREASED BY 16%.

THE CHANGES IN THE VALUE, UNIT VALUE AND VOLUME OF

BY END-USE CATEGORY ARE SHOWN IN TABLE 3.

RE-EXPORTS

COMPARING MARCH 1994 WITH MARCH 1993, THE VOLUME OF RE-EXPORTS OF FUELS GREW SUBSTANTIALLY BY 126%. THAT OF OTHER END-USE CATEGORIES ALSO INCREASED: RAW MATERIALS AND SEMI-MANUFACTURES (+22%), FOODSTUFFS (+16%), CAPITAL GOODS (+7.6%) AND CONSUMER GOODS (+5.8%).

OVER THE SAME PERIOD OF COMPARISON, THE PRICES OF RE-EXPORTS OF CAPITAL GOODS, FOODSTUFFS AND CONSUMER GOODS INCREASED BY 2.2%, 1.7% AND 0.8% RESPECTIVELY. ON THE OTHER HAND, THE RE-EXPORT PRICES OF FUELS, AND RAW MATERIALS AND SEMI-MANUFACTURES DECREASED BY 15% AND 0.5% RESPECTIVELY.

DETAILS OF THE ABOVE STATISTICS ARE PUBLISHED IN THE MARCH 1994 ISSUE OF THE "HONG KONG TRADE INDEX NUMBERS".

THE REPORT WILL BE AVAILABLE ON SALE FROM FRIDAY (JUNE 9) AT $9 PER COPY AT EITHER (I) THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS CENTRE ON THE GROUND FLOOR, GENERAL POST OFFICE BUILDING, CONNAUGHT PLACE, CENTRAL; OR (II) THE PUBLICATIONS SECTION OF THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT ON THE 19TH FLOOR, WANCHAI TOWER, 12 HARBOUR ROAD, WAN CHAI.

ENQUIRIES REGARDING REGULAR SUBSCRIPTION TO THIS REPORT MAY BE DIRECTED TO THE INFORMATION SERVICES DEPARTMENT AT FRENCH MISSION BUILDING, 1 BATTERY PATH, HONG KONG ON TEL 842 8802 AND ENQUIRIES ON TRADE INDICES TO THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT ON TEL 582 4918.

/Table 1:

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