Argentina: Coronavirus blow to exports sharpens in April
Exports nosedived 18.9% in year-on-year terms in April, following March’s marked 15.9% slump. The print was the result of plummeting exports of manufactured products of industrial origin and of fuels and energy, which more than counterbalanced a healthy increase in foreign sales of primary products. In terms of export markets, April’s print mainly resulted from tumbling overseas shipments to Brazil, the U.S. and Paraguay largely outweighing soaring exports to China and India.
Imports stumbled 30.1% annually in April, a more pronounced contraction than March’s 19.7% fall. Diving imports of passenger motor vehicles, fuels and lubricants and capital goods drove March’s downturn.
Consequently, the trade balance surplus in April widened from March’s USD 1.1 billion to 1.4 billion (April 2019: USD 1.2 billion surplus). Moreover, the 12-month rolling trade balance rose from March’s USD 17.3 billion surplus to a 17.5 billion surplus in April, marking the highest result in nearly 11 years (April 2019: USD 2.7 billion surplus).