In the period January-March 2020 export amounted to 2 billion 628 million BAM, which is 5,2% lower than in the same period of 2019, and import amounted to 4 billion 284 million BAM, which is 7,2% lower than in the same period of last year.
The coverage of import by export was 61,4% and international trade in goods deficit amounted to 1 billion 656 million BAM, according to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Agency for Statistics.
Export to CEFTA countries amounted to 398 million BAM, which is 5,8% lower than in the same period of 2019, while import amounted to 500 million BAM, which is 5,4% lower than in the same period of last year. The coverage of import by export was 79,5%.
Export to EU countries amounted to 1 billion 928 million BAM, which is 7,8% lower than in the same period of 2019, while import amounted to 2 billion 622 million BAM, which is 6,2% lower than in the same period of last year.
The coverage of import by export was 73,5%.
Exports of fruits and processed products from Bosnia and Herzegovina in the first quarter amounted to about 26.24 million BAM and decreased by 5.5% compared to the same period last year, while imports amounted to almost 52 million BAM and increased by 20.7 percent compared to the first quarter of last year, according to Srna news agency.
According to the analysis of the Foreign Trade Chamber on the impact of the coronavirus on this sector in BiH, the export of frozen raspberries, which is still dominant, amounted to about 13.81 BAM million in the first quarter and recorded a slight decrease of 0.8 percent compared to the same period last year.
“The volume of frozen raspberry exports fell more than its value, suggesting a slight increase in the export price, which is good,” this analysis points out. The significant drop in fruit crops, which also dominate the sector, is recorded in fresh pears, so the export of this fruit in the first three months amounted to about 5.54 million BAM and decreased by 15.4 percent compared to the same period last year.
Almost all of the fresh pear exports were to Russia. Exports of fresh apples in the first quarter of this year, compared to the same period last year, decreased by 12.8 percent and amounted to about 3.3 million BAM, and almost all exports were directed to the Russian Federation and Montenegro.
Exports of fruit jams in the first three months of this year amounted to about 1.45 million BAM and increased by 17.4 percent compared to the same period last year.
In 2019, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) exports amounted to 11.8 billion convertible mark (6.5 billion U.S. dollars), down 3 percent year-on-year, while the country’s imports were worth 19.9 billion KM, 1.5 percent more than in 2018, the BiH Foreign Trade Chamber said here on Tuesday.
“The increase in the trade deficit was mainly caused by the loss of the Kosovo market and the bankruptcy of the aluminum factory in Mostar,” said the Chamber’s Director, Vjekoslav Vukovic.
The aluminum smelter in Mostar, the third largest city in BiH, exported over 350 million KM worth of products annually but in July 2019 it went bankrupt due to unpaid bills to power utility Elektroprivreda HZHB.
The country’s main trading partners are the European Union (EU) member states and the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) members, accounting for 83 percent of all trade.
They are followed by Turkey, the United States and China. BiH mostly imports cars, food products and medicines and exports electricity, wood, car seats and textiles.
The bulk of BiH’s imports comes from China. In 2019, the country imported over 540 million KM worth of goods from China (a year-on-year increase of nearly 15 percent), while its exports to the Asian country totaled 30 million KM, according to BiH figures, Xinhua reports.
Exports from Bosnia and Herzegovina in the first 11 months of last year (January-November) amounted to 10 billion and 630 million BAM, which is 3.1 percent less than in the same period last year, while imports amounted to 17 billion and 898 million BAM, which is is up 0.8 percent.
The BiH Agency for Statistics announced that the coverage of imports by exports was 59.4 percent, while the foreign trade deficit amounted to 7 billion and 268 million BAM.
Exports to CEFTA countries amounted to one billion and 724 million BAM, which is three percent less than in the same period last year, while imports amounted to two billion and 207 million BAM, which is more by 3.3 percent. The export-import ratio with CEFTA members was 78.1 percent.
Exports to EU countries amounted to 7 billion and 808 million BAM, which is 3.3 percent less than in the same period last year, while imports amounted to 11 billion and 114 million BAM, which is 3.8 percent more. The share of imports with exports from the EU was 70.3 percent.
