Exports from the A.C. of the Basque Country reported a nominal rise of 19.6% in the second quarter of 2008, according to EUSTAT data. They came to 5,717.6 million euros compared to 4,780.4 million for the second quarter of 2007.

Total imports for this second quarter came to 5682.3 million euros, which meant they were up by 16.5% on the same period of the previous year, when they stood at 4,876.2 million..

The rates obtained, both for Spanish exports and imports, were lower than the Basque figures in the second quarter of 2008 and stood at 7.6% and 6.1% respectively.

Table 1.- Evolution of the foreign trade of the A.C. of the Basque Country. Second Quarter 2007-2008. Thousands of euros.

Source: Eustat

If the analysis is limited to non-energy products, exports of this category were up 16.2% on the previous year and imports of the same nature posted a 4.9% increase, compared to the figures for the second quarter of 2007.

The total volume of foreign transactions (imports plus exports) rose from 9,656.6 million euros in the second quarter of 2007 to 11,399.9 million for the same period in 2008.

Foreign trade post a surplus of 35.3 million euros for the second quarter and, as a result, the coverage rate of total exports over imports stood at 100.6%. However, non-energy exports exceeded non-energy imports by 1 585.5 million in the second quarter of 2008 and the coverage rate stood at 144.7%, five points higher than the same period of the previous year.

In this second quarter of 2008, exports to the European Union grew by 16.9%, compared to the figures for the same quarter of 2007. Special mention should be made of the year-on-year growth and volume sent to France (21.5%), Germany (26.5%), Belgium (67.7%) and Portugal (18.8%). Outside the EU-27, exports to the USA were noteworthy and were up 35.3%.

Imports from the European Union were up by 4.6%, while the countries supplying energy products increased by over 70.0%.

Two of the most important customs duties sections in exports underpinned the growth of the second quarter of 2008. Thus Metal and Manufactured Goods registered a year-on-year growth of 27.2%, followed by Electrical Equipment with growth of 22.2%. Transport Equipment exports, with growth of 13.8%, performed well, even though below the average. Mineral Products also performed well with a year-on-year growth of 61.3%.

As far as imports were concerned, Mineral Products, which grew by 42.9%, became the most important customs duties section by import duty groups and accounted for 37% of all imports. The following import duty sections in terms of volumes, performed unevenly: Metals and Manufactured Goods fell by 5.3%, Electrical Material was up by 9.0% and Transport Material, by 53.5%.

Exports grew at the greatest rate in Bizkaia. They increased by 26.8% in this second quarter of 208, driven by the increase of exports in Energy Products (63.2%) and Metals and Manufactured Goods (34.1%). Bizkaia imports grew by 22.1% over this same period, mainly due to the growth of Energy Products (43.9%).

Exports from Gipuzkoa increased its value by 17.5%, between April and June 2008. The increase was mainly down to the good performance of Metals and its Manufactured Goods (24.8%) and Electrical Equipment (21.4%). Imports to Gipuzkoa were stagnant and recorded a rate of 0.1%.

Export from Alava, in this second quarter, grew by 12.6%, driven by the year-on-year increases in the customs duties sections of: Transport Equipment (14.6%), Metals and Manufactured Products (18.5%) and Electrical Material (30.3%). Imports to Álava were up by 18.2%, with significant year-on-year growth registered by Transport Material (70.5%) Electrical Equipment (36.7%) and Chemical Products (36.7%)

Graph 1.- Foreign trade of the A.C. of the Basque Country. (Trend)

Source: Eustat