Benefitting From A Weak Peso, Colombia’s September Statistics Show A Booming Export Sector

In September, Colombia exported 39.5% of the non-mining and energy goods it sold to the world to 16 Latin American countries, according to an analysis by the Economic Studies Office of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism based on DANE figures.

This means that $722.9 million USD were exported to Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela. In volume, 289,791.7 tons were sold to these countries, an increase of 3.1%.

Compared to the same month in 2021, this meant an increase of 11%, and in relation to September 2019, the growth was 27.8%.

Of the total goods sold by the country to this region in September, with which the government of President Gustavo Petro seeks to strengthen economic and trade integration, almost half (44.5%) were non-mining energy goods.

Plastics, vehicles for passenger transportation, palm oil, medicines, candies and sweets, soaps, soluble coffee, beauty preparations, paper and cardboard, among others, are the main products exported to this part of the world.

“We advocate for a joint agenda in economic and commercial matters, but above all in productive complementation, border integration and so many other things in the region. It is necessary to return to having common objectives within a framework of internationalization with a human face and to continue strengthening the CAN and mechanisms such as the Pacific Alliance,” said the Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism, Germán Umaña Mendoza.

In the first nine months of this year, the 16 countries mentioned above received $6,225.6 million USD in non-mining and energy goods from Colombia, which translates into an increase of 19.7% compared to the same period in 2021 ($5,202.9 million USD) and 29% compared to January-September 2019 ($4,823.1 million USD).

Between January-September, Colombia exported $6.2 billion USD in non-mining goods to 16 Latin American countries. In the first 9 months of the year, global foreign sales of non-mining energy goods totaled $16.5 billion USD.

In volume, this represented 2.5 million tons for a 3% growth compared to a year ago.

Venezuela

It should be noted that Venezuela has been increasing its share receiving Colombia’s non-mining energy exports. From representing 1.6% of this type of sales a year ago and occupying 17th place in this ranking, today it represents 2.7% of these exports and occupies 7th place.

Between January and September of this year, exports of non-mining goods to Venezuela reached $438 million USD for a growth of 108.4% compared to the same period of 2021, when it represented “only” $210,4 million USD.

Among the goods most exported to Venezuela are sweets, plastics, fertilizers, palm and soybean oils, margarines, laminated products, bakery products, compresses and electric accumulators.

Non-mining energy goods

As for non-mining energy goods exports to the world, in September alone, Colombia sold $1.831 billion USD in this type of product, which is their highest value exported in a September. It represents a growth of 19% compared to the same month of 2021 and 48.9% compared to the ninth month of 2019, a year before the covid-19 pandemic.

Exports in September were driven by industrial products, Ministry of Commerce classification, which accounted for 62.6% of the non-mining market basket in September and grew 13.5% compared to the same month of 2021.

In this group, some products stand out for their growth such as doors, windows and their frames (266.6%); vehicles for passenger transportation (116.8%); coffee extracts and concentrates (73.5%); cane or beet sugar (32.4%); other hair preparations (16.1%) and chocolates, confectionery and candies (15.3%), among others.

In this same month, exports of primary products to the world, according to the classification of the Trade portfolio, represented 37.3% of non-mining exports and grew 30% when compared to the same period of 2021.

Among these products, we can highlight the growth of unroasted coffee, whose exports grew 26.3%. In addition, bananas and plantains increased 47.9%; flowers (28.6%); frozen beef (14.4%); Hass avocado (53.6%); tilapia fillets (147.9%) and Tahiti lime (61.3%), among others.

“In the government of President Gustavo Petro we work to strengthen the domestic market, exports, to replace imports and to generate income that allows the reduction of inequality. In this purpose, it is essential to promote the creation of small and medium-sized companies to create more exportable supply and integrate them into international value chains,” said the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Germán Umaña Mendoza.

The main destination for exports of non-mining energy goods in September was the United States, which accounted for 29.8% of these sales. Exports to that market totaled $545.3 million USD, an increase of 35% compared to the same month last year. The second most important market for these exports was Ecuador, which accounted for 8.4%. They totaled $153.1 million USD, an increase of 1% compared to September 2021. The third most important destination was Brazil, which accounted for 6.1% of these exports. In September they reached $111.2 million USD, an increase of 28%.

Between January and September of this year, Colombia’s exports of non-mining and energy goods reached $16.48 billion USD and represented 37.6% of total domestic sales abroad.  This is the highest amount exported for this period in history. They increased 26.2% compared to the same period in 2021 and 43.3% compared to January-September 2019, the year prior to the pandemic generated by covid.

It is also interesting to note that Colombia’s total exports to the United States were $11.4 billion USD in the first nine months of the year, compared to $901.82 million USD for Canada, $5.7 billion USD for the European Union and $481.26 million USD for the United Kingdom.

Above photo: Port of Cartagena (photo © Loren Moss)