Press Release 17/05/2021
In March 2021, exports from the Basque Country were consolidated with 39% growth, following on from a trend started in the previous month
The balance of exports of goods of 2021 closed with 9.1% growth
According to Eustat data, in March 2021 exports of goods from the Basque Country (accounting for 2,359.1 million euros) were up 39.0% compared to the same month of the previous year. Non-energy exports rose by 37.5%, and energy exports increased by 73.4%.
Imports (1,708.3 million) were up 18.6%, despite the 25.0% drop in energy products.
In March 2021, the trade balance (exports minus imports) became positive again by more than 650 million euros, with a coverage rate of 138.1%, which was 20.3 percentage points higher than the rate in March 2020.
For the second month in a row, all three provinces saw negative values, with percentages varying from 20.6% in Gipuzkoa, 58.7% in Álava, to 43.0% in Bizkaia. Bizkaia saw 72.9% growth after 13 months of significant decline, including 2019 when positive values were recorded in only two months.
In Álava, most exports were in “Transport Material” (56.6% of the total), with an increase of 85.5%. Likewise, “Electrical Equipment, Machinery & Devices” (30.0%), “Metals and Manufactured” (17.8%), “Plastics & Rubber” (86.0%), to name the four major customs duty groups, were all up. All the others, bar two, also saw significant increases.
In Gipuzkoa, sales of “Electrical Equipment, Machinery & Devices” (31.2%) and “Metals and Manufactured” (44.1%) rose, while “Transport Material” exports were down by 23.9%, forming a series of 15 consecutive months of downward trend, all 11 of them over 20%. All other sections, except for two, increased.
Exports from Bizkaia followed the same trend as the other provinces, with an increase of 43.0%, a result of the upturns in “Metals and Manufactured” (67.8%), “Mineral & Energy Products” (75.7%) and “Electrical Equipment, Machinery & Devices” (18.4%). Only three groups, with a small specific weighting, were down.
In March 2021 five countries (Germany, France, United States, United Kingdom and Belgium) were our main clients, absorbing 53.0% of total exports from the Basque Country (1,251.4 million). Three belong to the EU27, which accounted for 61.9% of exports which, as we have said in previous releases, would have been 69.2% of the erstwhile EU28.
Sales to Belgium grew 116.5%, Italy 78.9%, Germany 61.3%, Portugal 54.1%, France 50.2% and the United Kingdom 23.7%. Exports to the Netherlands, on the other hand, were down 4.8%. 57.7% of all exports (1,360.5 million) went to these seven countries.
Outside of the European Union, there were four countries that stood out, led by the United States, with an increase of 66.0% and 190.7 million euros exported, followed by China, with 51.1 million (up 27.7%), Mexico (43.4 million and 9.5%) and Turkey (32.9 million and 38.3%).
Over half (57.3%) of all imports came from the EU27 and would have reached 60.1% for the erstwhile EU28. Of the countries with the most exports, Italy was in the lead with growth of 76.4%, the Netherlands with 50.5%, Germany (41.8% and 300.4 million in imports), the United Kingdom (37.8% and 48.6 million) and France (31.2% and 178.5 million).
As regards the rest of the world, imports from Russia (349.1% and 73.7 million), China (99.1% and 146.4 million), Mexico (39.8% and 67.9 million) and Brazil (19.0% and 45.8 million) increased. Imports from Russia and Mexico were energy-related.
Products traded in March 2021
In November, the ten main export duty groups accounted for 40.5% of exports, with a combined value of 955.4 million euros.
By order of size, there was a major increase in exports of “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” (130.6% and 140.1 million more than in the same month of the previous year), “Vehicle parts and accessories” (49.4% and up 51.3 million), “Goods Transport Vehicles” (68.9% and up 46.8 million), “New Rubber Tyres” (34.4% and up 28.0 million) and “Refined Petroleum Oils” (62.0% and up 40.5 million). “Iron or Non-Alloy Steel Sections” (80.0% and up 27.6 million), “Taps, valves and similar appliances for pipes” (61.8% and 23.2 million) and “Railway or Tramway Vehicle Parts” (200.3% and 23.8 million) grew significantly.
This month, of the 25 main customs duty groups, five were within the vehicle sector (four of them occupying the top positions) which, with a year-on-year increase of 77.9%, managed to export 290 million euros more than in the same period of the previous year.
Exports of only two groups of the 25 dropped: “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel” (-14.1% and 4.9 million down) and “Plant or animal fats and oils for industrial technical use” (-4.8% and -1.0 million).
In the case of imports, we can see that the product with the largest specific weight “Petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals” (9.3% of the total), saw a decrease of 47.9%, down 147.0 million on March 2020. Only two other groups recorded a negative trend: “Mixtures of odoriferous substances used in the food and beverage industries” (-7.2% and -2.1 million) and “Petroleum gas and other hydrocarbon gases” (-12.6% and 2.3 million). On the other hand, there was a considerable increase in “Refined Petroleum Oils” (290.1% and up 57.7 million), the third most imported product this month, followed by “Vehicle parts and accessories” (41.4% and +23.3 million). Also of note was the increase in “Internal combustion engines, diesel or semi-diesel” (38.5% and +15.3 million) and “Remelting scrap ingots of iron or steel” (36.5% +10.7 million).
ÁLAVA. Exports during March 2021
Exports from the province of Álava were up 58.7%. Of the 10 main groups, which account for 71.8% of the total, only two showed negative rates of growth, namely “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel” (-37.1% and down 8.8 million) and “Aircraft Parts” (-64.4% and -8.0 million).
Conversely, the others stayed positive. The top three in the export rankings were associated with the vehicle sector: “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” (130.7% and +138.2 million), “Goods Transport Vehicles” (68.8% and +46.6 million) and “New Rubber Tyres” (92.8% and +19.8 million).
BIZKAIA. Exports during March 2021
In Bizkaia, exports grew by 43.0%, a trend shared by the main customs duty groups, except one of the top ten for Bizkaia, which was negative: “Plant or animal fats and oils for industrial technical use” (-4.8% and -1.0 million).
Conversely, “Refined Petroleum Oils” (61.1% and up 39.8 million), “Vehicle parts and accessories” (45.3% and +20.7 million) and “Bars and rods of iron or non-alloy steel” (460.8% and +19.5 million).
GIPUZKOA. Exports during March 2021
None of the top 10 customs duty groups were down, led by “Vehicle parts and accessories”, with an increase of 75.6% (30.2 million), “Iron or Non-Alloy Steel Sections” (82.5% and 27.1 million) “Railway or Tramway Vehicle Parts” (256.2% and +24.0 million) and “Taps, valves and similar appliances for pipes” (48.7% and +12.7 million).
ANNUAL ACCUMULATE – FIRST QUARTER OF 2021
The foreign trade balance generated a surplus of 1,571.5 million euros and the coverage rate stood at 134.9%
For the first three months of 2021 as a whole, and for exports from the Basque Country, an increase of 9.1% was registered compared to the same period of the previous year, which translated into a rise of 506.8 million euros. The total amount of exports this period stood at 6,075.3 million euros; the greatest contribution to this figure was that of Bizkaia, with 2,382.5 million (39.2% of the total), followed by Álava (1,864.9 million) and Gipuzkoa (1,827.9 million).
Bizkaia exports were the largest in the Basque Country, with a year-on-year rise of 10.9% (233.7 million euros up on 2020). In Álava exports increased to an even greater extent, by 12.1% (+201.3 million) and they fell by 4.1% in Gipuzkoa (+71.9 million).
Considering the type of product exported, there was a decline in exports of “Energy Products” (-27.3% and down 97.0 million) while “Non-energy Products” were up (11.6% 603.8 million).
The ten most exported products (customs duty groups) during the first three months of 2021 accounted for 41.4% of all exports, reaching a total of 2,514.9 million euros. Only one recorded a considerable decline compared with the same period of 2020: “Refined Petroleum Oils” (-33.7% and -112.9 million). There were considerable rates of growth in the other products in this group, particularly in the vehicle sector, e.g. “Railway or Tramway Vehicle Parts”, with an increase of 134.4% and 54.5 million, “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” were up 29.4% and 147.7 million. Similar trends were seen in “Goods Transport Vehicles” (26.6% and +84.3 million), “Vehicle parts and accessories” (-7.7% and +30.1 million) and “New Rubber Tyres” (6.0% +15.4 million).
The export ranking in these first three months of 2021 situates Germany as the prime receiver country of Basque exports, with 1,094.1 million and 18.0% of the total exported. After Germany came France (965.5 million), the United Kingdom (438.2 million), the United States (365.8 million), Italy (317.9 million) and Belgium (314.6 million). These six countries accounted for 57.5% of exports. Italy had the lowest proportion, 120.3%, and the United States the largest, 320.9%.
Cumulative imports for the Basque Country as a whole during the period in question amounted to 4,503.7 million euros. Comparing this figure in year-on-year terms, we see that it is 60.6 million euros down on the equivalent for the same period in 2020. This decrease (1.3%) is largely due to the fact that the province of Bizkaia (with imports of 2,369.4 million) registered a downturn of 8.7%, that is, 226.7 million down on the same period of the previous year. Imports grew in other provinces, at 6.4% in Álava and 10.7% in Gipuzkoa, where imports reached 1,085.3 million and 1,049.0 million euros, respectively.
In the Basque Country, “Energy Products” fell by 29.1% (-333.1 million) over this period, while “Non-energy Products” rose by 8.0% (272.5 million).
The top Basque exports were “Petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals”, with 579.0 million euros, despite the considerable decrease (-35.2% and 314.2 million down) seen this quarter. On the other hand, Basque exports of “Refined Petroleum Oils” (91.8% and 84.9 million) were up. Foreign purchases of “Soya Beans, Whether or Not Broken” (40.3% and 30.6 million), “Remelting scrap ingots of iron or steel” (37.2% and 27.5 million) and “Unwrought aluminium” (65.7% and 25.4 million) increased.
Foreign trade in goods in the Basque Country during the first three months of 2021 had a positive balance of 1,571.5 million euros, which is 567.4 million more than was registered during the same period of the previous year and maintains a positive coverage rate of 134.9%.
For further information:
Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel: 945 01 75 62