Visible trade gap narrows

The visible trade gap narrowed by €20.1 million in February when compared to February last year, according to preliminary figures published by the National Statistics Office.

Provisional data for international trade show that the visible trade gap in February 2010 at €71.7 million, down by €20.1 million when compared to the corresponding month in 2009.

There were increases in imports and exports of €33.6 million and €53.9 million respectively.

The increase in imports was mainly due to capital goods, in particular aircraft and parts thereof, and ships and boats. Other increases were registered in fuels and lubricants and industrial supplies, while a decrease was registered in consumer goods.

Mineral fuels and lubricants accounted for the main increase in exports during February 2010, when compared to the corresponding month last year.

Other increases were also registered in machinery and transport equipment, food, miscellaneous transactions, chemicals and semi-manufactured goods.

In the first two months this year, the visible trade gap narrowed by €97.2 million to €120.4 million.

This came about because of a decrease of €18.5 million in imports and an increase of €78.8 million in exports, when compared to the corresponding period in 2009.

The decline in imports was mainly due to capital goods and consumer goods. During this period the increase in exports was primarily due to machinery and transport equipment.

Other increases were registered in mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials, food, semi-manufactured goods, miscellaneous transactions and crude materials.

During the first two months the bulk of Malta's trade flows and consequent trade deficit continued to be directed towards the European Union.

Drops were registered in imports from Germany, France and United Kingdom, while increases were recorded from the Netherlands and Italy.

Exports to the euro area show an increase, with other increases recorded for Japan, Singapore and Switzerland.