Exports in March grew by 36.4%, mainly due to fuel sales

Anderson [email protected]

According to the export information handled by Dane and Dian, in March 2021, the country’s overseas sales were 3,326.6 million US dollars on board, providing an increase of 36.4% compared to March 2020; This result is mainly attributed to the growth of 43.9% of the fuel group’s overseas sales.

In the reference month exports Of fuels and extractive industries products at 42.3% of total FOB export value; Likewise, manufacturing increased by 21.7%, agriculture, food and beverages 28.0%, and other sectors by 8.0%.

In March 2021, 14.8 million barrels of crude oil were exported, which is a decrease of 24.5% compared to the same month in 2020.

On the other hand, overseas sales of agricultural products, food and beverages reached 931.2 million US dollars on board, accounting for a growth of 45.4%, compared to March 2020. This resulted from an increase in coffee exports without decaffeinated toast or not. Coffee husk and peel (63.1%), which contributed 16.2 percentage points to the group variation.

For the period between January and March, Colombian exports amounted to 8,874.3 million US dollars on board and recorded an increase of 0.8%, compared to the same period in 2020. There, exports of fuels and extractive products decreased by 13, 9% compared to
Same period in 2020. This behavior is mainly attributed to the decrease in foreign sales of coal, coke and briquettes (a decrease of 40.3%), which contributed by 14.2 percentage points negative.

In terms of destination countries, the United States was the main destination of Colombian exports with a 27.7% share of the total value of FOB exported; Shares were followed in order by: China, Panama, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru and Mexico.

In addition, the growth in sales to China and the United States by 22.9 percentage points contributed to the total export variance (36.4%). In contrast, Turkey’s foreign sales contributed 1.6 points
Negative percentages.

Trade Minister Jose Manuel Restrepo said: “We are pleased to record the result that occurred today for exports until March 2021. It is important to note that it does not matter what happened in January and February, as a result of the growth of agricultural and food exports, which in this case amounted to 45%, as well as in the case of industrialization, which Grew by 15%. “

He also added that Colombia’s Exporta Más policy has yielded results and that efforts have been made to open up international markets through commercial and health diplomacy.

Finally, he added, the results are also due to the use of the 17 free trade agreements in effect, reaching more than 1.8 billion consumers. They hope to continue diversifying the export basket.