Argentina: Exports continue to plunge amid coronavirus crisis
Exports tumbled 16.3% in year-on-year terms in May, following April’s sharper 18.9% dive. The print was the result of plummeting exports of manufactured products of industrial origin and of fuels and energy, which more than offset a healthy increase in foreign sales of primary products. In terms of export markets, May’s print mainly resulted from tumbling overseas shipments to Brazil and the U.S. outweighing soaring exports to China and India.
Imports nosedived 31.8% annually in May, a more pronounced contraction than April’s 30.1% slump. Free-falling imports of passenger motor vehicles, fuels and lubricants, and capital goods drove May’s downturn.
Consequently, the trade surplus in May widened from April’s USD 1.4 billion to 1.9 billion (May 2019: USD 1.4 billion surplus). Moreover, the 12-month rolling trade balance rose from April’s USD 17.5 billion surplus to a 18.0 billion surplus in May, marking the highest result in the series’ history (May 2019: USD 5.4 billion surplus).