Jamaica’s exports to its major trading partners increased by 14 percent to US$173.1 million for the first two months of this year, compared to the corresponding period last year, the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) has reported.
The island’s major trading partners are the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Finland.
According to STATIN, the out-turn for January and February was largely attributed to higher exports of bunker C fuel oil and Turbo A1 fuel to the US. But STATIN also noted that total export earnings fell by 9.5 percent to US$208.5 million compared to US$230.4 million earned in January and February 2021.
The agency indicated that the decline was primarily due to a 66.6 percent fall in the value of outflows in the category ‘Crude Materials.’
Further, domestic exports, which accounted for 84.6 percent of total outflows, declined by 11.8 percent to US$176.4 million and STATIN said this was due to an 80.6 percentage point fall in the export of alumina.
Meanwhile, Jamaica’s import expenditure increased to just over one billion US dollars, as a result of a 32.4 percent increase in imports for the review period.
STATIN said this was due to increased spending on all categories of imported goods.
Imports of ‘raw materials/intermediate goods’ amounted to US$360.1 million, which was 46.6 percent higher than the US$245.6 million spent for the corresponding period in 2021.
STATIN further indicated that the total spend on imports of consumer goods amounted to US$304.4 million. This represented an increase of 53.7 percent, while imports of ‘fuels and lubricants’ increased by 10.7 percent to US$258.6 million when compared to the US$233.6 million spent in a similar period in 2021.
Jamaica’s five main trading partners for the review period were the US, China, Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia, and Japan.
STATIN indicated that expenditure on imports from these countries accounted for 66.7 percent of total inflows, valued at US$728.6 million. This was 43.3 percent above the US$508.4 million spent in the January to February 2021 review period and was largely due to higher imports of fuel from the US and crude oil from Colombia.
CMC/
