Africa-Press – Mozambique. Exports from Mozambique yielded US$1.7 billion in the first quarter of this year, an increase of US$4.4 million compared to the same period in 2022.
The data appear in the quarterly balance of payments bulletin, released on Wednesday, August 2, by the Bank of Mozambique, to which Diário Económico has had access.
The positive evolution recorded in export earnings, according to the report, is explained, essentially, by the growth in sales of products exported by Large Projects (GP), with emphasis on the extractive industry sector (natural gas, heavy sands and rubies, sapphires and emeralds), with an increase of US$280.1 million.
Other sectors of the economy, namely the manufacturing industry (aluminium) and energy, registered decreases in sales of US$140.7 million and US$8.8 million respectively.
“Excluding Large Projects, agricultural products generated revenue of US$103.9 million for the country (US$28.7 million less than in the same period of 2022), with an emphasis on vegetables, tobacco, cotton, sugar and banana,” the central bank report reads.
In general, according to the bulletin, the drop in prices on the international market affected the behaviour of the revenues of the main Large Projects’ products in the first quarter. Thus, “natural gas earned the country US$341 million (US$251.9 million in the same period in 2022), an amount justified, essentially, by 70.1% increase in the volume exported, given that the international price fell by 46.2%”.
In the same sense, heavy sands earned US$120.1 million in revenue, against US$117.5 million recorded in the same period of 2022, a fact mainly due to the 11% increase in export volume, while the price dropped by 9%.
In turn, revenues from the export of aluminium, mineral coal and electricity decreased by 35.5%, 14.8% and 6.2%, respectively, due to the combined effect of the drop in prices and export volumes.
“In aluminium, the reduction in volume is a consequence of the drop in production influenced by equipment failure at the main company (Mozal), while the average price in the international market fell by 26.1%,” the document details.
According to the same source, in the case of mineral coal, the decrease was due to the combined effect of the drop in the price on the international market by 19.2%, and in the volume exported, down by 10.7%.
The central bank’s report further points out that earnings from exports, excluding Large Projects, decreased by 5.1%, having settled at US$389.4 million. Agricultural exports fell by 21.7%, with an emphasis on sales of vegetables and bananas, which fell by 41.4% and 35.9% to US$22.1 million and US$8.2 million respectively, as a result of the drop in export volume.
During the period under review, India ranked first as the main destination for exports, with a volume of US$288.8 million (17% of total exports), with mineral coal, cashew nuts, cashew nuts and pulses featured.
South Africa and the United Kingdom are the second- and third-largest export destinations, with values of US$256.6 million and US$137.4 million respectively.
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