Press Release 18/03/2024

FOREIGN TRADE STATISTICS (ECOMEX). January 2024

In January 2024, exports fell by 12.7% in the Basque Country

Imports were down 4.8%, registering a positive trade balance of 116.1 million euros

In January 2024, exports of goods from the Basque Country amounted to 2,376 million euros, 12.7% down on the same month of the previous year, according to Eustat data. Imports registered a downturn of 4.8%, and while non-energy imports dropped by 12.3%, energy imports rose by 16.0%.

There was a positive trade balance of 116 million euros, with a coverage rate of 105.1%.

This month, exports from Álava saw a drop of 17.5%, while in Bizkaia they fell by 13.6% and in Gipuzkoa they were down 5.5%. In the case of Bizkaia, energy exports registered a decrease of 26.7% compared to the same month of the previous year.

In Álava, most exports were in “Transport material”, with 417.1 million in exports (54.4% of the total), and “Metals and articles thereof”, with 126.5 million (16.5% of the total), with a fall of 24.2% in both cases.

In Gipuzkoa, three customs duty groups accounted for almost 75% of international trade (74.8%), which performed differently in the year-on-year comparison: “Electrical equipment, machinery and devices” (+10.7%), “Transport material” (-9.4%) and “Metals and articles thereof” (-7.2%).

Bizkaia saw an upturn in exports of “Transport material” (20.2%) and “Electrical equipment, machinery and devices” (3.6%), and a decrease in exports of “Mineral and energy products” (-26.4% with 123.3 million in exports), which meant 44.1 million and 71,284 tonnes less than in the same month of the previous year, and “Fats and oils” (-61.0%) and “Metals and articles thereof” (-18.0%).

Products traded in January 2024

A more detailed look at the products reveals that in January 2024 the ten main customs duty groups accounted for 41.7% of exports, with a combined value of 991.4 million euros.

Within the top 25 customs duty groups, noteworthy increases were recorded in three of them: “Vehicles for transporting 10 or more people” (97.6% and 19.5 million in exports), “Turbo-reactors, turbo-propellers and other gas turbines, and their parts and components” (59.1% and 30 million) and “Vehicle parts and accessories” (14.8% and 197.4 million). “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” fell by 24.1%, “Refined petroleum oils” by 30.6%, “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel” by 29.0% and “Stainless steel bars and sections” by 43.9%.

In the case of imports, and with regard to the top 25 customs duty groups, the most significant increases were recorded in “Petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals” (6.2% and 456.0 million in imports), “Refined petroleum oils” (141.9% and 178.3 million), “Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of 600 mm or more, hot-rolled, not clad, plated or coated” (49.5% and 80.6 million), “Unwrought aluminium” (85.5% and 30.9 million) and “Soya-bean oil”, with purchases of 14.4 million.

Meanwhile, purchases of “Petroleum gas and other hydrocarbon gases” decreased from 122.2 million in January 2023 to 89.3 million in January 2024, going from 197,266 tonnes to 144,139 tonnes. There was also a decline in imports of “Electric accumulators and parts thereof” (-47.6%).

ÁLAVA. Exports during January 2024

In Álava, exports fell by 17.5% compared to the same month of the previous year. This decrease was primarily seen in “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” (217.7 million), with a drop of 28.6%, “Goods transport vehicles” (143.4 million, -26.2%) and “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel” (38.8 million, -32.0%). However, “New rubber tyres” (62.6 million) saw an upturn of 21.9%.

BIZKAIA. Exports during January 2024

Exports from the province of Bizkaia were down 13.6%. “Refined petroleum oils” (-29.0% and 42.5 million less than in January 2023) and “Stainless steel bars and sections” (-49.9% with 16.7 million less) were among the largest customs duty groups responsible for this decline.

On the other hand, sales were up in “Turbo-reactors, turbo-propellers and other gas turbines, and their parts and components” (60.3% and 29.9 million) and “Vehicle parts and accessories” (11.9% and 77.8 million).

GIPUZKOA. Exports during January 2024

Exports from Gipuzkoa dropped by 5.5% this month, despite the notable increases seen in customs duty groups such as “Vehicle parts and accessories” (16.8%), “Machine tools and presses for forging, die-stamping, shearing, punching, notching, rolling, bending, folding, etc.” (195.9%) and “Vehicles for transporting 10 or more people” (107.0% and 17.3 million in exports). Among the largest customs duty groups, the most significant decreases were recorded in “Iron or non-alloy steel sections” (-15.7%) and “Other iron or steel articles” (-15.8%).

Source/destination countries, January 2024

In January 2024, five countries (France, Germany, Italy, the United States and the United Kingdom) were the Basque Country’s biggest customers, absorbing 53% (1,259.3 million) of the total exported. Three of these countries are part of the EU27, which accounted for 65.8%.

France, with a total of 442.9 million euros, held first place this month in the ranking of countries by export destination. Standing out among the 650 types of products received were “Refined petroleum oils” (71.1 million), “Vehicle parts and accessories” (32.0 million), “New rubber tyres” (30.0 million), “Goods transport vehicles” (23.4 million) and “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” (17.7 million).

Exports to Germany this month rose to 382.9 million euros, and, as in the case of France, were primarily concentrated in customs duty groups related to the vehicle sector: “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” (89.2 million), “Goods transport vehicles” (52.4 million), “Vehicle parts and accessories” (39.6 million) and “New rubber tyres” (24.1 million), for a total of 411 different products.

Italy came in third place this month with 148.0 million euros, and the majority of its transactions were also in the vehicle sector: “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” (18.0 million), “New rubber tyres” (12.3 million), “Vehicle parts and accessories” (6.8 million), “Vehicles for transporting 10 or more people” (5.3 million) and “Goods transport vehicles” (4.2 million). A considerable amount of “Soya-bean oil” (8.9 million) was also exported, for a total of 435 products.

Exports to the United States amounted to 146.9 million euros. Purchases centred on “Refined petroleum oils” (7.0 million), “Biodiesel and mixtures thereof” (27.8 million), “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel” (13.1 million) and “Turbo-reactors, turbo-propellers and other gas turbines, and their parts and components” (12.1 million), totalling 352 different products.

This month, the United Kingdom accounted for 5.8% (138.7 million euros) of total exports from the Basque Country, of which 15.4 million corresponded to “Turbo-reactors, turbo-propellers and other gas turbines, and their parts and components” and 11.3 million to “Iron or non-alloy steel sections”. Besides these two products, most of the top products were concentrated in the vehicle sector, with 12.2 million corresponding to “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats”, 8.9 million to “Vehicle parts and accessories” and 7.3 million to “New rubber tyres”, among others, for a total of 397 different products.

Exports to Russia (4.3 million euros) primarily consisted of “Machines for washing, filling, sealing and labelling containers and packing machinery”, with 3.2 million. The remaining 1.1 million euros were shared among 12 different products.

This month, 43.1% of Basque imports came from the EU27. The countries that supplied goods include Germany, which accounted for a total of 236.1 million euros, chiefly divided between “Vehicle parts and accessories” (23.4 million), “Electric motors and generators (except electrical generating sets)” (8.2 million) and “Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of 600 mm or more” (14.1 million).

For yet another month, the most sought-after product from France was “Remelting scrap ingots of iron or steel”, accounting for 24.7 million euros out of total imports of 157.7 million euros, which were divided among 701 types of product.

Imports from the United States (234.2 million) exceeded those from France and almost exceeded those from Germany, with the majority being in “Petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals” (73.7 million), “Soya beans, whether or not broken” (62.4 million), “Refined petroleum oils” (55.0 million) and “Semiconductor devices, whether or not photosensitive, and mounted piezoelectric crystals and parts thereof” (12.4%). It is worth mentioning that there were no imports of “Petroleum gas and other hydrocarbon gases” from the United States this month.

143.6 million euros’ worth of “Petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals” were imported from Nigeria, 102.4 million from Mexico and 98.6 million from Brazil.

Yet again, the most imported product from China was “Electric accumulators and parts thereof”, with 11.8 million. Also of note were imports of “Parts and accessories for motorcycles and bicycles and for carriages for disabled persons” (6.4 million) and “Taps, valves and similar appliances for pipes” (4.2 million), for a total of 130.9 million euros, which were shared among 556 different products.

In January 2024, Russian imports amounted to 99.7 million euros and primarily consisted of “Unwrought aluminium” (8.6 million) and, in particular, “Petroleum gas and other hydrocarbon gases” (89.1 million), accounting for 99.9% of total Basque imports of this product in January.

Energy imports (729.6 million) were distributed as follows: 329.7 million from America (45.2%), with 128.7 million coming from the United States, 102.4 million from Mexico and 98.6 million from Brazil; 173.8 million (23.8%) was imported from Europe, distributed among Russia (89.1 million), the United Kingdom (37.8 million), Portugal (24.1 million), the Netherlands (11.6 million), Belgium (5.9 million) and Norway (4.2 million); 143.6 million from Africa, entirely from Nigeria; and 82.5 million from Asia, almost all of which came from Saudi Arabia (81.3 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