During the sixth month of the year, the country's external sales were US$3,821.6 million, while a year ago they were US$4,021.4 million.
Colombian exports fell 5% in June compared to the same month in 2023, according to the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE).
The entity's report indicates that in the sixth month of the year, the country's external sales were US$3,821.6 million, while a year ago they were US$4,021.4 million.
According to the entity, in June 2024 exports of fuels and products from the extractive industries were US$1,818.5 million and presented a drop of 10.8% compared to June 2023, “this behavior was mainly explained by the decrease in sales of coal, coke and briquettes (-40.6%) and ores and metal waste (-7.2%) that together contributed 15.7 negative percentage points to the group's variation."
For its part, exports of the manufacturing group were US$833.5 million and presented a decrease of 7.8%, compared to June 2023.
“This behavior was mainly explained by the drop in external sales of manufactured items, classified mainly according to material (-17.3%) and machinery and transport equipment (-8.8%), which together contributed 7.2 negative percentage points to the variation of the grouping.”
External sales of agricultural products, food and beverages were US$904.2 million and showed a growth of 9.3%, compared to June of last year.
WHAT HAPPENS TO EXPORTS?
In the last 19 months, Colombian exports have registered negative results on 17 occasions. The falls are smaller if we look at the figures for the entire semester (January to June) compared to the same period last year: total sales of Colombian exports were US$23,979.9 million FOB, a decrease of 2.9% .
Only January and April of this year have been the exception (with increases of 1.3% and 17.9%, respectively) to this streak of negative results for foreign sales. Meanwhile, the DANE figures show that the worst blows were evident during 2023 (especially in April -31.5%, June -27.5% and July -30.8%), so this year we would be in a recovery path.
In June, exports of fuels and products from extractive industries participated with 47.6% of the total FOB value of exports; Likewise, agriculture, food and beverages with 23.7%, manufacturing with 21.8% and other sectors with 6.9%.
“I think this warrants a new call to the Government to take economic reactivation measures,” said Javier Díaz Molina, president of Analdex.
According to DANE, the United States was the main destination of Colombian exports with a 32% share of the total exported value. They were followed by India, Panama, Mexico, Ecuador, Brazil and Puerto Rico.
In June 2024 compared to the same month in 2023, the decrease in sales to China and Korea together contributed 7.0 negative percentage points to the total variation in exports (-5%). In contrast, foreign sales to the United States contributed 5.0 percentage points to the total variation.
In January and June 2024, according to DANE, the United States was the main destination of Colombian exports, with a share of 28.7% in the total exported value; They followed in their order of participation: Panama, India, China, Mexico, Ecuador and Brazil.
GOOD NEWS FOR COFFEE
One of the products that has increased its shipments is Colombian coffee. The efforts of the more than 550,000 coffee-growing families in Colombia are behind the increases in grain production and export in the last year.
According to the most recent bulletin of the National Federation of Coffee Growers, in the last 12 months, coffee production reached 12,359,000 60-kilogram bags, which represents an increase of 16% compared to the previous period (10,680,000). .
Likewise, so far in the coffee year (which began on October 1, 2023 and will last until September 30, 2024), production increased by 20%, going from 8,897,000 bags (2022/2023) to 10,638 ,000 bags of this validity.
Figures from the National Federation of Coffee Growers show that coffee exports grew in July of this year, reaching a total of 1,005,000 bags, which translates into an increase of 18% compared to the same month of 2023 (852,000 bags). .
