28/06/2016 02:32 AST
Qatar has registered a 13.4% growth month-on-month on total exports of goods, which amounted to QR17bn in May, according to the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS).
The total exports of goods include exports of goods of domestic origin and re-exports. The export figures in May, however, were 31.4% lower than the same period last year.
The imports of goods in May dropped month-on-month (m-o-m) by 7.2% to QR9.5bn. Compared to the same period last year, it showed a decrease of 1.1%.
In May, the foreign merchandise trade balance, which represents the difference between total exports and imports, showed a surplus of QR7.5bn, a decrease of about QR7.7bn, or 50.4%, compared to the same period last year.
The foreign merchandise trade balance increased by nearly QR2.7bn, or 57.3%, compared to April 2016, MDPS said.
The year-on-year (May 2016 on May 2015) decrease in total exports was mainly due to lower exports of petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons (LNG, condensates, propane, butane, etc.).
According to MDPS, the exports of petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons reached nearly QR9.9bn in May, which represented a decrease of 38.2%, while petroleum oils and oils from bituminous minerals (crude) accounted for nearly QR3.1bn, down 17.9%.
The MDPS data showed that in May, Japan was the top destination of Qatar’s exports (with close to QR2.8bn) followed by South Korea (QR2.6bn) and India (QR1.9bn).
Last month, motor cars and other passenger vehicles topped the list of Qatar’s import items with QR500mn, which however, was down 33.6% compared to the same period last year.
In May, China topped the countries from where Qatar sourced import items (with about QR1bn) followed by the US and the UAE.
Gulf Times
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