Press Release 16/06/2022

FOREIGN TRADE STATISTICS (ECOMEX). April 2022

Exports from the Basque Country were up 30.8% in April 2022

In 2021, the total exported to Algeria was 66.8 million; the total imported was just 7.6 million

In April 2022 and compared to the same month of the previous year, exports of goods from the Basque Country (2,660.7 million euros) registered a nominal increase of 30.8%, according to Eustat data. This volume of exports placed April 2022 at the top of the historical series, even exceeding the previous month, when the total reached 2,619.3 million euros. Non-energy exports rose by 29.8%, and energy exports increased by 47.6%.

Imports (2,479.9 million) saw growth of 51.3%, due to an increase of 148.1% in energy products and 27.6% in non-energy products. April also posted the highest figure in the historical series for this trade flow, ahead of the previous month (2,238.3 million).

In April 2022, there was a positive trade balance in the order of 181 million euros, with a coverage rate of 107.3%.

All three provinces of the Basque Country recorded positive growth rates, with percentage increases ranging from 19.9% in Bizkaia, 30.6% in Álava and up to 45.9% in Gipuzkoa. Non-energy exports grew by 15.7% in Bizkaia, 30.5% in Alava and 45.6% in Gipuzkoa. Energy exports reached 45.8% in the case of Bizkaia.

In Álava, most exports were in “Transport Material” (53.9% of the total), with a rise of 26.0%; “Metals and articles thereof” (with a year-on-year increase of 89.5%); “Plastics & Rubber” (7.8%); and “Electrical Equipment, Machinery & Devices” (6.8%), these being the four largest “customs duty groups” this month.

In Gipuzkoa, there were increases in exports of “Transport Material” (49.4%), as well as those of “Metals and articles thereof” (69.4%) and “Electrical Equipment, Machinery & Devices” (32.1%).

Bizkaia saw upturns in exports of “Metals and articles thereof” (21.1%), “Electrical Equipment, Machinery & Devices” (12.3%) and, above all, “Mineral and Energy Products” (42.2%); exports of “Transport Material”, on the other hand, were down 8.9%.

In April 2022, five countries (France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and Italy) were the Basque Country’s biggest customers, absorbing 51% (1,357.1 million) of the total exported. Three of these belong to the EU27, which accounts for 63.8%.

Exports to France increased by 29.6%, to Germany by 20.1%, to the United Kingdom by 34.6%, to the United States by 64.2% and to Italy by 56.8%. There was also a rise in exports to Belgium (13.9%) and Portugal (47.4%). This month sales to China were up 30.7%, along with those to Mexico (64.8%), Norway (136.3%) and Brazil (48.1%). Exports to Russia fell by 45.3%.

40.8% of Basque imports came from the EU27. The standout European countries were Belgium, with growth of 62.8%, France (30.0%), Germany (24.8%) and Italy (23.6%). Imports from the United Kingdom decreased by 24.5% and those from Ireland were down 20.3%. Looking at the rest of the world, we can see that there were also increases in imports from China (50.5%), Brazil (189.3% and 173 million), Mexico (201.6% and 98 million), the United States (796.7% and 244 million), Egypt (1,601.2% and 84 million), Norway (2,358.3% and 46 million) and Nigeria (18,287.0% and 100 million), among others. In the case of Russia, there was a drop of 69.5%, going from 94.8 million in April 2021 to 28.9 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 imported almost no energy products this month (59,000 euros).

Products traded in April 2022

A more detailed look reveals that in April 2022 the ten main export duty groups accounted for 40.9% of exports, with a combined value of 1,085 million euros.

Of particular relevance were the increases in “Refined petroleum oils” (58.8% and 60 million more than in the same month of the previous year), “Vehicle parts and accessories” (36.3% with exports of 178 million) and “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel” (119.7% and 51 million). There was also growth in exports of “Iron or Non-Alloy Steel Sections” (93.2% and 81.5 million), “Goods Transport Vehicles” (27.9% and 149.5 million), “New rubber tyres” (17.7% and 99 million) and “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” (7.2% with 197 million in exports); however, exports were down in “Railway or tramway vehicle parts” (-66.3%). Also of note in April was the sharp rise in exports of “Lifts, Escalators, Transporters, etc.” (57.6 million).

In the case of imports, the largest customs duty group, “Petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals” (25.8% of the total), saw growth of 187.6%, 417 million more than in the same month of 2021, making a total of 639.2 million in imports, with 168.9 million coming from Libya, 101.6 million from Brazil, 99.3 million from Nigeria, 92.4 million from Mexico, 69.6 million from Egypt, 65.2 million from the United States and 42.1 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” (1,230.3% with 140.2 million in imports), practically all of it “natural gas”, which this month came from the United States (140.1 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, clad, plated or coated”

(107.1% and 38.9 million), “Electric accumulators and parts thereof” (294.2% and 24 million) and “Wheat” (21.9 million), with imports from Germany (19.2 million), Russia (2.5 million) and Luxembourg (0.2 million).

ÁLAVA. Exports during April 2022

In Alava, exports grew by 30.6% due to the fact that all 10 of its main customs duty groups (70.6% of the total) had positive growth rates. Among these, of particular note were “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel” (310.0% with 42.9 million in exports), “Lifts, Escalators, Transporters, etc.” (273.2%) and “Stoppers, caps and other packing accessories of base metal” (124.9%).

BIZKAIA. Exports during April 2022

Exports from the province of Bizkaia were up 19.9% on the previous year. Of the ten main customs duty groups, which accounted for 45.4% of the total, “Biodiesel and mixtures thereof, not containing or containing less than 70 % by weight of petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals” posted the highest growth rate, with an increase of 341.1% and 15.3 million more than the previous year, followed by “ Iron or non-alloy steel bars, forged, twisted or with a circular or rectangular cross-section ” (235.2%) and “Refined petroleum oils” (57.2% and 159.3 million in exports).

GIPUZKOA. Exports during April 2022

Exports from Gipuzkoa were up 45.9%, with clear positive trends by comparison with the same month of the previous year and with other provinces. For example, “Diesel and Electric Motor Units for Railway Tracks and Motorised Trams” recorded exports worth 58 million euros compared to the absence of exports for this customs duty group in April 2021, exports of “Machine tools and presses for forging, die-stamping, shearing, punching, notching, rolling, bending, folding, etc.” grew by 346.7%, those of “Machine tools for drilling, boring, milling or threading metal other than lathes” increased by 189.4% and exports of “Iron or Non-Alloy Steel Sections” rose by 97.0% with 78.5 million in exports. None of these customs duty groups registered negative year-on-year rates.

CUMULATIVE TOTAL (JANUARY-APRIL) 2022: the foreign trade balance generated a surplus of 1,159.4 million euros and the coverage rate stood at 113.0%

For the first four months of 2022 as a whole, and for exports from the Basque Country, an increase of 24.0% was registered compared to the same period of the previous year, which translated into a rise of 1,159 million euros. The total amount of exports for this period stood at 10,052 million euros; the greatest contribution to this figure was that of Bizkaia, with 4,048 million (40.3% of the total), followed by Álava (2,945 million) and Gipuzkoa (3,059 million).

Bizkaia exports also saw the highest year-on-year rise, 831.1 million more than in 2021 and a relative increase of 25.8%. In Álava, exports rose by 20.0% (489.9 million more) and they were up 25.5% in Gipuzkoa (621.3 million).

Considering the type of product exported, growth can be seen in exports of both “Energy Products”, with 378.3 million more, and “Non-energy Products”, which exceeded the cumulative total for the same month in 2021 by 1,564.1 million.

The ten most exported products (export duty groups) accounted for 41.5% of exports, reaching a total of 4,153.7 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 9.0%, 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 114.3% and 371 million euros more than in 2021, a percentage which drops to 28.5% if we consider tonnes exported instead of euros. For the other products in this list, growth ranged from 10.5% (54.5 million more) for “Goods Transport Vehicles” to 98.8% (98 million more) for “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel”. Other significant increases 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 57.6%, 56.1% and 28.3%, respectively. Attention should also be drawn to the sharp rise seen in “Plant or animal fats and oils for industrial technical use”, which came in thirteenth place in the ranking, with an increase of 105.5% and 61.9 million euros more.

The ranking of countries to which Basque Country exports were sent during the period considered was topped by France as the prime receiver country, with 16.1% of the total. France is followed by Germany (15.8%), the United States (6.4%), the United Kingdom (6.1%) and Italy (6%). Between them, these five countries accounted for 50.3% of Basque exports.

Cumulative imports for the Basque Country as a whole during this period amounted to 8,892.6 million euros. Comparing this figure in year-on-year terms, we see that it exceeded the equivalent for the same period of 2021 by 2,749 million. This increase (44.8%) was largely due to the fact that the province of Bizkaia (with imports of 5,200.7 million) registered an upturn of 57.8%, that is, a rise of 1,904.8 million compared to the same period of the previous year. Imports also grew in Álava, up 31.3% in relative terms and 447.7 million euros more in imports, and in Gipuzkoa, where there was a rise of 28.0% and 396.8 million euros more, with the value of imports in these two provinces standing at 1,877.1 and 1,814.9 million euros, respectively. Imports of “Energy Products” were 96.8% higher than in the same period of the previous year and those of “Non-energy Products” were up 33.0%.

Foreign trade of goods in the Basque Country during the first four months of 2022 had a positive balance of 1,159.4 million euros, maintaining a positive coverage rate of 113.0%.

FOREIGN TRADE WITH ALGERIA

In 2021, the total exported to Algeria was 66.8 million; the total imported was just 7.6 million

Basque exports to Algeria amounted to 66.8 million euros in 2021, following a trend which, after various fluctuations throughout the available series, marks 2014 as the year with the highest volume of exports from the Basque Country to Algeria, totalling 403.4 million euros.

In the mid-2010s, foreign trade with Algeria underwent a period of growth, reaching 301.1 million euros in 2015 and 244.7 million in 2013. Another period of increased export activity occurred in the three-year period from 2008 to 2010, when a total of 962 million was exported.

In the years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, exports stood at around 200 million. In the year-to-date, from January to April, there have been 29.9 million euros worth of exports to Algeria.

In 2021, exports to Algeria accounted for 0.26% of the total exported by Basque companies. We have to go back to 2015 to find values higher than 1%, or 1.4% to be precise. The largest export weight to this country was achieved in 2009, when 314.7 million in exports represented 2.1% of the total.

Another defining characteristic of trade with Algeria was the fact that the Basque Country’s export activity focused on a limited number of products (customs duty groups). In effect, only ten products accounted for 60% of the total exported to this country from the Mediterranean basin. Standing out in terms of volume was Uncoated kraft paper and paperboard, in rolls or sheets,, which shipped goods to the value of 20.6 million euros, meaning that this customs duty group alone represented 30.8% of exports.

Other significantly smaller groups compared to the first include Newsprint, in rolls or sheets, with 3.5 million euros, and Uncoated paper and paperboard, for graphic purposes, in rolls or sheets and punch tape paper, with 1.6 million.

Of the remaining top ten products exported, the following exceeded two million euros in 2021: Centrifuges and filtering apparatus for liquids or gases and parts thereof, Vehicle parts and accessories and Machines for the manufacture of cellulosic pulp, paper, cardboard and its finishing, the former with 3 million and the latter two with 2.1 million euros.

As regards imports, it is worth highlighting Algeria’s scarce presence in Basque international trade. In the last two full years, 2021 and 2020, imports did not even reach 8 million euros, standing at 7.6 million each year, barely 0.04% of Basque imports.

The years leading up to the pandemic saw a slightly stronger performance, particularly in 2018, with 59.6 million euros in imports, or even further back in time, in 2013, which, with 247.4 million, became the year with the largest volume of imports in the known series. Beyond that year, there have been very few periods in which imports surpassed 50 million.

While export activity was limited in its variety, import activity can be said to be monochromatic. Thus, of the 7.6 million imported from the North African country, 7.4 million corresponded to a sole customs duty group, Float glass and glass roughed or polished, which absorbed 97.3% of the amount imported from Algeria.

In the more recent past, there have been substantial imports of Petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals, which reached 220.6 million euros in 2013 (89.1% of the total imported), 43.2 million in 2018 (72.5% of the total), 7.6 million in 2017 (24.9%) and 37.3 million in 2015 (99.7%).

There were also considerable imports of Petroleum gas and other hydrocarbon gases, which, although not represented in 2020 and 2021, in chronological order stood at 15.2 million in 2019, 12.6 million in 2017, 82.1 million in 2014, 25.0 million in 2013, 2.1 million in 2012, 58.7 million in 2011 and 31.8 million in 2010.

At their peak in 2013, imports of Petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals and Petroleum gas and other hydrocarbon gases from Algeria accounted for 7% of total imports of these products from all countries. In 2019, the most recent year with a value, they represented 0.3% of the total imported for both customs duty groups.

As can be easily deduced, the trade balance with Algeria has always been positive, with the exception of 2013, when it was -2.7 million. In 2021, the balance stood at 59.2 million and in 2020 it was 57.1. In the year-to-date, over four months, it has reached 25.1 million. The highest ever balance was recorded in 2014, 319.4 million, and it was well in excess of 200 million in 2015 and 2016. More recently, in 2019, it stood at 154.5 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