Press Release 17/05/2022

FOREIGN TRADE STATISTICS (ECOMEX). March 2022

Exports from the Basque Country were up 11% in March 2022

The balance for the first quarter of 2022 closed with exports of close to 7,400 million euros, 21.7% more than in 2021

In March 2022 and compared to the same month of the previous year, exports of goods from the Basque Country (2,619.3 million euros) registered a nominal increase of 11.0%, according to Eustat data. This volume of exports placed March 2022 at the top of the historical series, even exceeding November 2021, when the total reached 2,600.4 million euros. Non-energy exports rose by 4.4%, and energy exports increased by 131.1%.

Imports (2,238.3 million) saw growth of 31.0%, due to an increase of 95.3% in energy products and 19.5% in non-energy products. March also posted the highest figure in the historical series for this trade flow, ahead of November 2021 (2,163.8 million).

In March 2022, there was a positive trade balance in the order of 381 million euros, with a coverage rate of 117.0%.

All three provinces of the Basque Country recorded positive growth rates, with percentage increases ranging from 1.5% in Álava, 9.9% in Gipuzkoa and up to 19.0% in Bizkaia. Non-energy exports grew by 1.4% in Álava, 9.9% in Gipuzkoa and 1.9% in Bizkaia. Energy exports rose even further in the case of Bizkaia, reaching 131.8%.

In Álava, most exports were in “Transport Material” (47.6% of the total), despite exports of this product experiencing a downturn of 14.7%; “Metals and articles thereof” (with a year-on-year increase of 85.0%); “Plastics & Rubber” (-8.3%); and “Electrical Equipment, Machinery & Devices” (-1.1%), these being the four largest “customs duty groups” this month.

In Gipuzkoa, there were increases in exports of “Transport Material” (12.3%), as well as those of “Metals and articles thereof” (36.4%). However, third in the Gipuzkoa ranking, “Electrical Equipment, Machinery & Devices”, fell by 9.3%.

Bizkaia saw upturns in exports of “Transport Material” (28.8%), “Electrical Equipment, Machinery & Devices” (4.5%) and, above all, “Mineral and Energy Products” (118.7%); exports of “Metals and articles thereof”, on the other hand, were down 1.5%.

In March 2022, five countries (France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Portugal) were the Basque Country’s biggest customers, absorbing 48.8% (1,277.7 million) of the total exported. Four of these belong to the EU27, which accounts for 63.5%. This percentage would have been 68.8% for the former EU28.

Exports to France increased by 20.2%, to Portugal by 30.3%, to Italy by 44.1% and to the Netherlands by 57.0%. However, there was a decline in exports to Germany (-2.2%), the United Kingdom (-19.6%) and Belgium (-20.1%). This month sales to the United States decreased by 36.6%, while there was an increase in exports to China (26.6%) and a significant rise in those to Singapore, specifically, 86.4 million euros of fuel oil (1,987.6%). Exports to Russia fell by 53.5%.

Half of all imports came from the EU27 (50.9%). The standout European countries were Belgium, with growth of 99.8%, the Netherlands (61.0%), Portugal (35.0%), France (23.9%), Italy (18.8%) and Germany (9.2%). Lastly, imports from the United Kingdom registered growth of 3.7%. Looking at the rest of the world, we can see that there were also increases in imports from China (11.9%), Brazil (551.6%), the United States (569.1%) and Norway (700.8%), among others. In the case of Russia, there was a drop of 83.2%, going from 73.7 million in March 2021 to 12.3 million in the same month of 2022. Imports from the latter countries were primarily energy-related, with the exception of those from China and Russia, a country from which we have not imported any energy products this month.

Products traded in March 2022

A more detailed look reveals that in March 2022 the ten main export duty groups accounted for 43.4% of exports, with a combined value of 1,134.7 million euros.

Of particular relevance were the increases in “Refined petroleum oils” (150.5% and 159.5 million more than in the same month of the previous year), “Vehicle parts and accessories” (22.5% with exports of 190 million) and “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel” (155.6% and 76.4 million). There was also growth in exports of “Iron or Non-Alloy Steel Sections” (30.0% and 80.7 million) and those of “New rubber tyres” (0.7% and 110 million) remained stable; however, exports were down in “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” (-30.3% with 172.5 million in exports) and “Goods Transport Vehicles” (-22.7% and 88.7 million). Also of note in March, for yet another month, was the sharp rise in exports of “Diesel and Electric Motor Units for Railway Tracks and Motorised Trams” (29 million).

In the case of imports, the largest customs duty group, “Petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals” (20.3% of the total), saw growth of 183.9%, 293.4 million more than in the same month of 2021, making a total of 453.0 million in imports, with 263.4 million coming from Brazil, 89.2 million from Angola, 59.5 million from the United States and 40.8 million from Norway. This positive trend was seen in the majority of the main customs duty groups, with a significant increase in “Petroleum gas and other hydrocarbon gases” (122.4% with 36.0 million in imports), practically all of it “natural gas”, which this month came from the United States (35.8 million). It is also worth highlighting the rises in “Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of 600 mm or more, hot-rolled, not clad, plated or coated” (106.5% and 70.2 million) and “Biodiesel and mixtures thereof”, with 24.6 million in imports from Belgium (14.5 million) and the Netherlands (10.1 million).

ÁLAVA. Exports during March 2022

Exports from the province of Álava were up 1.5% on the previous year. Of the ten main customs duty groups, which accounted for 69.9% of the total, “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel” (353.6% with 67.4 million in exports) posted the highest growth rate, followed by “Vehicle parts and accessories” (210.1% and 57.3 million) and “Other tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel” (71.1% and 23.5 million). In contrast, decreases were recorded in “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” (-29.9% with 171 million in exports) and “Goods Transport Vehicles” (-22.8% and 88.3 million), among others.

BIZKAIA. Exports during March 2022

In Bizkaia, exports grew by 19.0% due to the fact that all 10 of its main customs duty groups (53.6% of the total) had positive growth rates. Among these, of particular note were “Refined petroleum oils”, with an increase of 151.5% and 159.0 million more than the previous year, “Plant or animal fats and oils for industrial technical use” (67.4% and 34.5 million in exports), “Stainless steel bars and sections” (54.4% and 31.5 million) and “Aluminium sheets and strips of a thickness exceeding 0.2 mm” (50.4% and 38.9 million).

GIPUZKOA. Exports during March 2022

Exports from Gipuzkoa were up 9.9%, with clear positive trends by comparison with the same month of the previous year in “Diesel and Electric Motor Units for Railway Tracks and Motorised Trams”, 29 million compared to the absence of exports for this customs duty group in March 2021 (although this figure stood at 83.6 million in the same month of 2020 and reached 77.5 million in 2019), “Iron or Non-Alloy Steel Sections” (30.3% and 78.1 million in exports), “Vehicles for transporting 10 or more people, including the driver” (210.8% and 12.8 million) and “Other iron or steel articles” (72.3% and 21.8 million).

3 of the top 10 customs duty groups in the ranking for this province saw negative rates, most remarkably “Railway or tramway vehicle parts”, with a drop of 50.1% and a total of 16.7 million in exports.

FIRST QUARTER OF 2022: the foreign trade balance generated a surplus of 978.6 million euros and the coverage rate stood at 115.3%

For the first three months of 2022 as a whole, and for exports from the Basque Country, an increase of 21.7% was registered compared to the same period of the previous year, which translated into a rise of 1,316 million euros. The total amount of exports for this period stood at 7,391.4 million euros; the greatest contribution to this figure was that of Bizkaia, with 3,047.3 million (41.2% of the total), followed by Álava (2,174.5 million) and Gipuzkoa (2,169.6 million).

Bizkaia exports also saw the highest year-on-year rise, 664.8 million more than in 2021 and a relative increase of 27.9%. In Álava, exports rose by 16.6% (309.6 million more) and they were up 18.7% in Gipuzkoa (341.7 million). Considering the type of product exported, growth can be seen in exports of both “Energy Products”, with 322.5 million more, and “Non-energy Products”, which exceeded the cumulative total for the same month in 2021 by 993.5 million.

The ten most exported products (export duty groups) during the first quarter of 2022 accounted for 42.3% of exports, reaching a total of 3,116.2 million. Only one experienced a downturn in respect of the same period of 2021 and that was “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats”, which, despite falling by 13.6%, continues to be the group with the highest volume of exports from the Basque Country. Among the products with the highest growth were “Refined petroleum oils”, with 139.8% and 311 million euros more than in 2021, a percentage which drops to 46.8% if we consider tonnes exported instead of euros, and the customs duty group “Plant or animal fats and oils for industrial technical use”, with an increase of 109.0% and 57.3 million euros more. For the other products in this list, growth ranged from 5.4% (21.8 million more) for “Goods Transport Vehicles” to 92.4% (69.9 million more) for “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel”. Other significant rises include those recorded in “Iron or Non-Alloy Steel Sections”, “Aluminium sheets and strips of a thickness exceeding 0.2 mm” and “Vehicle parts and accessories”, with positive variations of 46.2%, 57.9% and 25.9%, respectively.

The export ranking in these first three months of 2022 situates France as the prime receiver country of Basque exports, with 16.1% of the total. France is followed by Germany (16.0%), the United States (6.3%), the Netherlands (6.1%) and Italy (6.0%). Between them, these five countries accounted for 50.5% of Basque exports.

Cumulative imports for the Basque Country as a whole during the first quarter of 2022 amounted to 6,412.7 million euros. Comparing this figure in year-on-year terms, we see that it exceeded the equivalent for the same period of 2021 by 1,909 million. This increase (42.4%) was largely due to the fact that the province of Bizkaia (with imports of 3,621.7 million) registered an upturn of 52.9%, that is, 1,252.3 million up on the same period of the previous year. Imports also grew in Álava, up 31.1% in relative terms and 337 million euros more in imports, and in Gipuzkoa, where there was a rise of 30.5% and 319.7 million euros more, with the value of imports in these two provinces standing at 1,422.3 and 1,368.7 million euros, respectively. Imports of “Energy Products” were 76.5% higher than in the same period of the previous year and those of “Non-energy Products” were up 34.9%.

Foreign trade of goods in the Basque Country during the first three months of 2022 had a positive balance of 978.6 million euros, maintaining a positive coverage rate of 115.3%.

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