Argentina: Coronavirus crisis strikes serious blow to exports in March
Exports plunged 15.9% in year-on-year terms in March, following February’s softer 2.8% drop. The print was the result of plummeting exports of manufactured products of agricultural and industrial origin and of fuels and energy, as well as of a dip in foreign sales of primary products. In terms of export markets, March’s print mainly resulted from tumbling overseas shipments to Brazil, the U.S. and China, compounded by lower sales to Vietnam and Paraguay which largely outweighed rising exports to Chile and the Netherlands.
Imports slumped 19.7% annually in March, broadly matching February’s 20.1% fall. Diving imports of passenger motor vehicles, fuels and lubricants and capital goods drove March’s downturn.
Meanwhile, the trade balance surplus in March matched February’s USD 1.1 billion (March 2019: USD 1.2 billion surplus). Moreover, the 12-month rolling trade balance was stable at February’s USD 17.3 billion surplus in March (March 2019: USD 0.7 billion surplus).