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38001
Low oil prices influence exports
statistikk
2009-04-17T10:00:00.000Z
External economy
en
muh, External trade in goods, import, export, balance of trade (export minus import), mainland exports, imports excluding ships and oil platforms, trade ( between countries, continents and trade regions), international product groups (for example hs, sitc and bec), product groups (for example food, crude oil and metals)External trade , External economy
false

External trade in goods, March 2009

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Low oil prices influence exports

Goods worth NOK 66 billion were exported in March, while imports represented NOK 36 billion. This represents a decline from the levels in the corresponding month of 2008 of 12.8 and 1 per cent respectively. The main change in export value is due to the low oil prices.

The surplus in trade in goods ended at NOK 30.3 billion; a decrease of NOK 9.4 billion compared to the corresponding month in 2008. The strong exports of natural gas contributed to stabilising the trade surplus.

The export value of natural gas amounted to NOK 22.4 billion; an increase of 29.6 per cent compared to the corresponding month in 2008. In March, 8.9 billion cubic metres of gas in gaseous form were exported. This closed the quarter with the strongest export of gas ever, with a total of 27.7 billion cubic metres. One year before, in the 1s t quarter of 2008, 26.9 billion cubic metres were exported.

The average price of a barrel of oil was NOK 320, which is an increase from the average of NOK 305 in the preceding month. However, it represents a substantial decrease of NOK 224 compared to the corresponding month last year. The value of crude oil amounted to NOK 17 billion; a decrease of 45 per cent compared to the corresponding month last year. The 1s t quarter of 2009 had the lowest quarterly value of exported crude oil since the 4t h quarter of 2003, even though 77 billion more barrels were exported at that time.

External trade in goods, excl. ships and oil platforms. NOK million
  January-March Change in
per cent 		March Change in
per cent
  2008 2009 2008 2009
1 Imports  115 619        104 653       -9.5       36 539      36 181 -1.0
2 Exports  229 600  197 188 -14.1 76 182 66 460 -12.8
Of which            
Crude oil 88 384 50 557 -42.8 31 225 17 036 -45.4
Natural gas 50 536 69 838 38.2 17 271 22 389 29.6
Condensates 3 191 1 311 -58.9  487  528 8.4
3 Exports excl. crude oil, natural gas and condensates 87 488 75 482 -13.7 27 199 26 506 -2.5
4 Trade balance (2-1)  113 981 92 536 -18.8 39 643 30 278 -23.6
5 Trade balance excl. oil, natural gas and condensates (3-1) -28 131 -29 171 . -9 341 -9 675 .

Small contraction in exports

In March, the export value of goods excluding ships, oil platforms, crude oil, natural gas and condensates came to NOK 26.5 billion. The decline from March 2008 ended at NOK 693 million.

The exports of non-ferrous metals declined by NOK 1.9 billion, which was mainly caused by a downturn in aluminium and nickel exports. The exports of fish, crustaceans and molluscs, and preparations thereof, however, increased by NOK 772 million compared to March last year. This is an increase of 27.4 per cent. In addition, machinery specialised for particular industries more than doubled its export value to NOK 2.1 billion. An increase in civil engineering and contractor’s plant and equipment, which for the first time topped NOK 1 billion, was a key factor behind the upturn. The exports of general industrial machinery and equipment showed a significant increase of NOK 870 million and amounted to NOK 2.1 billion.

Marginal change in imports

The import value of goods excluding ships and oil platforms was NOK 36.2 billion; a small decline from March last year. The largest contraction came in the group for road vehicles, which fell by NOK 1.4 billion to NOK 2.7 billion; a percentage decline of 34.2 per cent. This import consisted of NOK 884 million originating in Germany, which is close to half of the NOK 1.6 billion it was a year ago. One import group with a particular increase was telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment, which increased by NOK 635 million to NOK 1.9 billion.

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