Press Release 20/01/2022

FOREIGN TRADE STATISTICS (ECOMEX). November 2021

Exports of goods from the Basque Country grew by 25.7% in November 2021

The cumulative total of exports for the first eleven months of 2021 registered a year-on-year increase of 22.7% and surpassed pre-pandemic figures

There was a rise in exports of goods from the Basque Country of 25.7% in November 2021, according to Eustat data. Exports of energy products rose by 72.7% and those of non-energy products (95% of the total value) were up 24.0%. Exports stood at 2,600.4 million euros compared to 2,068.5 million in the same month of the previous year.

Imports saw growth of 45.1% in November 2021, reaching a value of 2,163.8 million euros. Energy imports increased by 60.2%, and non-energy imports were up 41.2%.

Provinces

Álava registered the largest growth in exports this month, with 32.5%, due to the rise in “Transport Material” (32.0%) and in “Metals and articles thereof” (50.6%). The increase in Bizkaia was 29.0% as a result of the rise in “Mineral and Energy Products” (67.4%), which, with an increase of 51 million, this month accounted for 13% of the total exported from this province, and in “Metals and articles thereof” (21.5%), “Electrical Material” (28.8%) and “Chemical Products” (143.3%). The balance was also positive in Gipuzkoa (16.0%) due to the upturn of 31.5% in “Metals and articles thereof”.

As regards imports, it was Bizkaia that accounted for the highest growth (54.1%), owing to the rise in acquisitions of “Mineral and Energy Products” (69.9%), with 207 million more than the previous year, “Metals and articles thereof” (79.6%) and “Vegetable Products” (113.2%). Growth in Gipuzkoa stood at 33.5%, primarily because of the increases in “Metals and articles thereof” (39.6%) and “Electrical Material” (25.9%). Álava also saw a rise of 37.1% based on “Electrical Material” (50.9%) and “Metals and articles thereof” (75.5%).

Activity Branches (A86)

Analysing the largest activity branches, and in relation to exports, standing out this November were the increases in exports of “Coke Plants & Oil Refining” (77.9%) and “Iron & Steel Products” (63.9%). In the latter case, the phenomenon occurred for yet another month in all three provinces, but especially in Bizkaia (130 million exported) and in Gipuzkoa (93 million), although Álava was not far behind with 74.6 million. “Machine Tools” also experienced strong growth (61.7%), concentrated in Gipuzkoa, with sales of 69 million. Products relating to the “Manufacture of motor vehicles” owe their 18.0% increase (93.5 million more than in November 2020) to the 480 million exported this month from the province of Álava.

In relation to imports, it is worth noting that the largest activity branch, “Extraction & Petroleum Industries” (21% of the total), saw significant growth of 95.6%, together with “Iron & Steel Products” (95.1%) and the “Manufacture of motor vehicles” (49.6%). In contrast, the decrease in “Coke Plants & Oil Refining” (-41.8%) stood out, with purchases down 33 million on the same month of the previous year.

Largest customs duty groups

A more detailed look reveals year-on-year rises in exports of “Refined Petroleum Oils” (94.5%), with an increase of 56.3 million in respect of the same month of the previous year, and “Fishing vessels and factory ships for processing marine products” (56.2 million), which were exported to Greenland from Gipuzkoa. There was also growth in exports of “Iron or Non-Alloy Steel Sections” (84.7%), “Railway or Tramway Vehicle Parts” (177.7%), “Aluminium sheets and strips of a thickness exceeding 0.2 mm” (271.0%) and “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel” (80.1%).

Of particular note this month was the good performance of products connected to the vehicle sector, given that there were increases in all of them: “Goods Transport Vehicles” rose by 4.4%, “Vehicle parts and accessories” by 8.3% and “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats”, to a greater extent, by 52.2%. Exports of “New Rubber Tyres” also increased (20.3%).

In the case of imports, there was a rise in “Petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals” (102.4%), 207.7 million euros more than in November 2020, but 4,235 tonnes less. This decrease in the volume imported was even more pronounced in the case of “Petroleum gas and other hydrocarbon gases”, with a year-on-year decline of 69,836 tonnes, but 10.4 million euros more than in November 2020. It went from 22.3 million to 32.7 million in imports, an upturn of 46.5%. As in previous months, this increase was due to purchases of “Natural gas”. This trend was more evident still in the case of “Refined Petroleum Oils”, with a year-on-year decrease of 176,472 tonnes and 35.4 million euros less (-45.6%).

There was a notable rise this month in imports of “Flat, hot-rolled iron or non-alloy steel products of a width exceeding 599 mm” (146.4%), “Internal combustion engines, diesel or semi-diesel” (77.3%), “Vehicle parts and accessories” (36.5%), “Remelting scrap ingots of iron or steel” (81.8%) and “Soya Beans, Whether or Not Broken” (55.9%).

Source/destination customers

In November 2021, five countries (France, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom and Italy) were the Basque Country’s biggest customers, absorbing 51.6% of the total. Three of them belong to the EU27, an entity that accounts for 61.5% of Basque exports.

As regards the main supplier countries, they were: Germany (367 million), France (212 million), China (186 million), Russia (117 million) and Mexico (96 million), which together accounted for 45.2% of the total imported.

ANNUAL CUMULATIVE TOTAL

The cumulative total of exports from the Basque Country up to November surpassed pre-pandemic figures for the same period of 2019

During the first eleven months of 2021, exports of goods from the Basque Country grew by 22.7% (4,358 million more than the previous year), reaching 23,584 million euros. The cumulative total recorded for this period in 2019 was finally reached and surpassed by 7.56 million this month, thus exceeding pre-pandemic figures (23,576.8 million in 2019 compared to 23,584.4 million in 2021).

Foreign trade in the Basque Country during the first eleven months of 2021 generated a positive balance of 4,483.3 million euros, with a coverage rate of 123.5%.

Provinces

Bizkaia stood out during this period in terms of export activity, as, with a year-on-year increase of 31.5%, it was the leader in exports, reaching 9,391.5 million euros. In Álava, the rise stood at 18.8% (6,812.1 million euros) and in Gipuzkoa it was 16.2% (7,380.8 million euros).

As regards imports, the performance was more even in the three provinces: Bizkaia saw an increase of 38.0% and imported goods to the value of 10,719.7 million euros, followed by Gipuzkoa with 4,215.6 million, up 28.3%, and, lastly, Álava with 24.1% and a contribution of 4,165.8 million to the Basque Country total.

Products

Considering the type of product, it was Non-energy Products, with a year-on-year increase of 3,973.8 million (21.6%), which most contributed to the growth in exports, while Energy Products also recorded 384.3 million more than the previous year (44.9%).

Imports of Energy products rose by 48.8% and those of Non-energy Products were up 28.7%.

Destination countries

The ranking of countries to which Basque Country exports were sent in this period was topped by Germany, with 16.2% of the total exported, followed by France (16.1%), the United Kingdom (6.7%), the United States (6.2%) and Italy with 5.3%. These five countries accounted for half of Basque exports (50.4%), with 11,887 million euros. If we add Belgium (5.2%), the Netherlands (4.9%), Portugal (4.3%), China (2.6%) and Poland (2.4%) to the aforementioned states, the total amounted to 16,448 million euros, representing 69.7% of total Basque exports.

Activity Branches (A86)

Among the largest activity branches by export volume, of particular note was “Iron and Steel products”, with an increase of 47.7% compared to the same period of the previous year, exceeding it by 842.6 million euros to reach 2,607.8 million. There was also considerable growth in exports of “Agricultural and livestock products” (146.7%), “Non-ferrous Metals” (47.4%), “Coke Plants & Oil Refining” (45.3%), “Electrical Material & Equipment” (21.7%), “Rubber Products” (19.2%) and, particularly, “Naval Construction” (250.8%), among others.

The branch of products relating to the “Manufacture of motor vehicles” (5,127 million and 21.7% of the total) registered cumulative growth of 14.6% at the end of November 2021, with 654.6 million more than in the same period of the previous year.

For imports, it is worth highlighting that the largest branch, “Mineral and Extraction Industries” (crude oil), was up 37.6% and those following it in terms of volume also grew, especially “Iron and Steel products” (59.1%) and, most notably, “Coke Plants & Oil Refining” (101.9%) (refined oil).

Largest customs duty groups

A more detailed look reveals that, within exports, three of the top 25 customs duty groups had negative growth rates: “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel” (-13.2%), “Unrefined copper and copper anodes for electrolytic refining” (-11.7%) and “Railway or Tramway Vehicle Parts” (-4.7%). In the remaining customs duty groups, the rates were positive, with the following standing out due to their significance and specific weight: “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” (19.4%), “Vehicle parts and accessories” (24.3%), “Goods Transport Vehicles” (5.4%), “Refined Petroleum Oils” (43.4%) and “New Rubber Tyres” (16.3%). These groups comprised the leading Basque export group, with a cumulative total of 7,034.9 million euros, accounting for 29.8% of exports from the Basque Country.

If we carry out the same analysis for imports, of particular relevance was the increase in purchases of “Refined Petroleum Oils” (96.2%), which, in the period in question, accumulated 827 million euros compared to 422 million in the same period of the previous year, going from 1,324,085 tonnes to 1,735,095 tonnes, i.e. 411,010 tonnes more. Another customs duty group that grew considerably in this period was “Remelting scrap ingots of iron or steel” (95.3%). Attention should also be drawn to the rise in monetary imports of “Petroleum gas and other hydrocarbon gases”, with an increase of 47.0%. However, in terms of volume, this represented a decrease of 21.2%, as it went from 1.3 million tonnes to one million.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tel.: 945 01 75 62