eBusiness Weekly
Tawanda Musarurwa
HARARE – Zimbabwe’s trade deficit the country’s trade deficit was down 44 percent to US$127 million in August 2018 from US$229 million in February 2018 as exports grew during the seven-months period.
Official statistics from the Zimbabwe National Statistical Agency (ZimStats) show that between February and August 2018, the country’s total exports amounted to US$2, 4 billion, showing a 24 percent increase from US$1,9 billion recorded in the same period last year.
Zimbabwe’s total trade for the period February to August 2018 increased by 25 percent to US$6,4 billion from the US$5,1 billion recorded in the same comparative period in 2017.
Exports increased by 30 percent from US$346 million in February 2018 to US$449 million in August 2018 while imports increased by 0,3 percent from US$575 million in February 2018 to US$576 million in August 2018.
Month-on-month exports increased by 32 percent from US$340 million in July to US$449 million in August while imports increased by 3 percent from US$560 million in July to US$577 million in August.
Zimbabwe’s exports may have benefited from accelerating global growth with the attendant rising demand are driving broad-based price increases for most commodities this year.
Figures from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) show that commodity prices strengthened in first quarter of 2018, with energy, base metals, precious metals and agriculture surged between January and May 2018, largely due to strong demand, amid tightening global supplies.
The country’s trade deficit decreased by 42 percent from US$220 million in July 2018 to US$127 million in August.
According to ZimStats, during the period under review, Zimbabwe’s exports were largely made up of primary commodities such as semi-manufactured gold (34 percent), nickel mattes (14 percent), flue-cured tobacco (12 percent), nickel ores & concentrates (11 percent), ferro-chromium (7 percent), chromium ores & concentrates (3 percent), jewelry (2 percent), diamonds (2 percent) and platinum (1 percent).
On the other hand, imports were largely made up of diesel (15 percent), unleaded petrol (8 percent), electrical energy (3 percent), crude soya bean oil (2 percent), rice (2 percent), medicaments (2 percent), wheat (1 percent), motor vehicles (1 percent), and ammonium nitrate (1 percent).
As data shows, Zimbabwe currently, the economy relies mainly on exports of unprocessed and semi-processed raw commodities.
South Africa remains the largest market for Zimbabwean products, taking 46 percent of total exports, followed by United Arab Emirates with a (22 percent) market share, Mozambique (10 percent), Zambia (2 percent) and China (1 percent) among others.
On the other hand, major source markets in the same period were South Africa (42 percent), Singapore (22 percent), China (5 percent), Japan (3 percent), Mauritius (3 percent), India (3 percent) United Kingdom (2 percent) and Mozambique (2 percent), among others.
