A ship decks at Hamad port in Doha, Qatar, June 14, 2017. Reuters/Naseem Zeitoon
DOHA: The State of Qatar’s commodity trade balance, which represents the difference between total exports and imports, reached a surplus of QR18bn in June 2018, registering a rise of QR5.5bn or 44.5 percent, compared to the same month of the previous year 2017, and a rise of QR3.1bn, or 21 percent compared to May 2018.
This came in the preliminary report on foreign trade statistics for the month of June 2018, issued by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics on a monthly basis. It includes data on exports (of local origin and re-exports) and imports, QNA reported.
The report noted that the value of total Qatari exports (including exports of local origin and re-exports) in June amounted to QR26.9bn, an increase of 46.3 percent compared to June 2017, and an increase of 8.3 percent compared to May 2018.
On the other hand, the value of commodity imports during June 2018 rose to reach QR8.9bn or 50.1 percent compared to June 2017, and decreased by 10.5 percent compared to May 2018.
In comparison to June 2017, the value of exports of ‘other oil and hydrocarbon gases’ (LNG, condensates, propane, butane, etc) increased to about QR15.6bn by 31.0 percent. The value of “oil and crude oil mineral raw materials” rose to about QR5.1bn by 107.7 percent. The value of exports of “oil and oils obtained from non-ferrous mineral raw materials” rose to about QR2.6bn by 160.6 percent.
In terms of exports by main destination countries, Japan was top country of destination for Qatar’s exports in June 2018 at about QR4.7bn, representing 17.6 percent of the total value of Qatari exports, followed by South Korea at about QR3.8bn, or 14.2 percent of the total value of exports, followed by Singapore with a value of QR3.2bn by 11.8 percent.
In June 2018, the group of “cars designed to transport people” came at the top of the list of imports, which amounted to about QR0.3bn , a decrease of 11.7 percent compared to June 2017.
It was followed by the group “telephone electrical appliances (telephone or telegram) including the network carriers and their parts, by QR0.3bn by 46.2 percent, followed by aircraft and aircraft parts to QR0.2bn, a decrease of 6.6 percent.
In terms of imports by main countries of origin, the United States was the top country of origin for Qatar’s imports in June 2018 worth about QR2.3bn , 26.0 percent of the total value of goods imports, and QR1.2bn , or 13.6 percent , followed by India with a value of QR0.5bn, or 5.8 percent.
