Qatar’s foreign trade surplus expands 63.6% to QR12.51bn in June despite siege

Notwithstanding the economic embargo, Qatar’s foreign trade surplus expanded 63.6% year-on-year to QR12.51bn in June, mainly on higher exports of petroleum gases, according to official figures.The country’s foreign merchandise trade surplus expanded 15.3% month-on-month in June, said the figures released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS).In absolute terms, South Korea, Japan, India, China and Singapore were among the largest export markets of Qatar; while imports mainly came from the US, China, the UAE, Brazil and Italy in June 2017.A strong expansion in shipments to China, South Korea, Singapore and Japan led Qatar’s total exports (valued free-on-board) rise 5.4% year-on-year to QR18.38bn this June. On a monthly basis, it however fell 9.5%.The country’s total exports of domestic products increased 3.5% year-on-year to QR17.32bn in June 2017. It was down 8.9% month-on-month.Qatar’s exports of petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons grew 15.8% year-on-year to QR11.88bn and non-crude by 2% to QR0.98bn; while those of crude shrank 22.4% to QR2.44bn and other commodities by 15.1% to QR2.02bn. On a monthly basis, Qatar’s exports of crude declined 26.7%, other commodities by 17.8%, non-crude by 13.4% and petroleum gases by 1.8%.Petroleum gases constituted 68.59% of total exports of domestic products in June 2017 compared to 61.29% a year-ago period; crude 14.09% (18.75%), non-crude 5.66% (5.73%) and other commodities 11.66% (14.22%).On exports destinations, South Korea accounted for 19% of total exports from Qatar in June this year, followed by Japan 17%, India 11%, China 10% and Singapore 8%.Qatar’s exports to China more than doubled year-on-year to QR1.85bn, those to South Korea grew 17.72% to QR3.55bn, Singapore by 9.78% to QR1.38bn and Japan by 6.51% to QR3.11bn; whereas those to India shrank 19.38% to QR2.08bn.Against May 2017 levels, Doha’s exports to Singapore plunged 38.76%, South Korea by 23.26%, Japan by 3.42% and China by 1.75%; while those to India were largely flat.The country’s re-exports expanded 52.7% year-on-year to QR1.06bn this June. On a monthly basis, it fell 18.2%. Qatar’s total imports (valued at cost insurance and freight) shrank 40% year-on-year to QR5.87bn. On a monthly basis, it fell 37.9%.The US accounted for 11% of Qatar’s imports in June 2017, followed by China 10%, the UAE and Brazil (8% each), and Italy (7%).On a yearly basis, Qatar’s imports from the US plummeted 66.59% to QR0.62bn, the UAE by 44.28% to QR0.49bn and China by 41.49% to QR0.59bn; whereas those from Brazil more than quadrupled to QR0.44bn and those from Italy rose 5.31% to QR0.44bn.Against the previous month’s levels, shipments from the UAE had plunged 48.75%, China by 39.94% and the US by 36.38%; while those from Brazil more than quadrupled and those from Italy grew 5.57%.Moto cars, parts of aircraft and helicopters and electrical apparatus for line telephony comprised the main components in Qatar’s import basket in June 2017.Doha imported motor cars worth QR0.34bn, parts of aircraft and helicopters (QR0.26bn), electrical apparatus for line telephony (QR0.18bn) and other commodities (QR5.08bn).