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37997
Lowest trade surplus since 2005
statistikk
2009-06-15T10:00:00.000Z
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
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External trade in goods, May 2009

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Lowest trade surplus since 2005

The trade balance surplus was NOK 22.2 billion in May. This is a decline of 47.2 per cent from last May and the lowest since June 2005. The export of goods amounted to NOK 55.1 billion while total imports ended at NOK 32.9 billion.

The low trade surplus is caused by a relatively larger decrease in exports than imports. Exports fell by NOK 27 billion compared to May last year. This decrease was mainly caused by far lower value of crude oil. The value of natural gas and metals also declined. Imports went down by NOK 7.2 billion, where cars and metalliferous ores showed the biggest decline.

Decline in oil exports

The value of crude oil was NOK 17.8 billion in May, nearly half that of May last year

The price of a barrel of crude oil in May was NOK 375. This is down NOK 263 from a year ago, but an increase of NOK 38 from last month. The increase led to the total value of crude oil being higher in May than April, even though the amount of barrels exported this month was lower. The oil exports in May ended at 47.4 million barrels of oil, down 14.1 per cent from May 2008.

Lower export of gas

The export value of natural gas ended at NOK 13.8 billion. The decrease from last year was 10.9 per cent, and 10.7 per cent from last month. A total of 7.2 billion cubic metres of gas in gaseous state were exported. This is a decline of 4.5 per cent from May last year and 11 per cent from last month.

External trade in goods, excl. ships and oil platforms. NOK million
  January-May Change in per cent May Change in per cent
  2008 2009 2008 2009
1 Imports  198 425  171 467 -13.6 40 095 32 942 -17.8
2 Exports  399 763  309 272 -22.6 82 178 55 143 -32.9
Of which            
Crude oil  159 421 85 814 -46.2 35 249 17 780 -49.6
Natural gas 85 513 99 014 15.8 15 448 13 763 -10.9
Condensates 5 453 2 727 -50.0 1 402 1 183 -15.6
3 Exports excl. crude oil, natural gas and condensates  149 376  121 717 -18.5 30 079 22 417 -25.5
4 Trade balance (2-1)  201 339  137 805 -31.6 42 083 22 201 -47.2
5 Trade balance excl. oil, natural gas and condensates (3-1) -49 048 -49 750 . -10 016 -10 525 .

Low level of exports of metals

The export value of commodities excluding ships, oil platforms, crude oil, natural gas and condensates amounted to NOK 22.4 billion in May. This is a decline of NOK 7.7 billion compared with the figures from May 2008.

The most significant changes are the declines in manufactured goods; the export value amounted to NOK 4.4 billion, down NOK 3.7 billion compared to May 2008. This was mainly caused by a downturn in non-ferrous metals, particularly aluminium and nickel exports, with a drop of NOK 2.3 billion. Iron and steel also fell by NOK 928 million. The exports of refined mineral products decreased by NOK 1 billion. The group of general industrial machinery and equipment also declined.

Despite lower exports of several goods, the export value of fish increased by NOK 489 million compared to May last year and reached NOK 3.2 billion. Exports of fresh whole salmon amounted to NOK 1.6 billion and reached a new record level. Compared to the same period last year this is an increase of NOK 350 million. The average monthly price for whole fresh salmon was NOK 35.04 per kilo, which is the highest level since 2006.

Decline in imports

The import value of goods excluding ships and oil platforms amounted to NOK 32.9 billion in May, down by 17.8 per cent compared to a year ago.

The most noticeable contraction was in the group consisting of machinery and transport equipment and in particular road vehicles, which fell by NOK 1.2 billion compared to May last year. Metalliferous ores and metal scrap declined by NOK 978 million. The main reason is the decline in the group for nickel ores and concentrates, which fell by NOK 751 million. Within the group for manufactured goods, both iron and steel and non-ferrous metals declined by over NOK 400 million each. Organic chemicals was the group with the biggest increase from May last year, but this still only amounted to NOK 133 million.

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