37978_not-searchable
/en/utenriksokonomi/statistikker/muh/arkiv
37978
Strong crude oil exports in February
statistikk
2010-03-15T10:00:00.000Z
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
false

External trade in goods, February 2010

Variants of the statistics:

Content

Published:

This is an archived release.

Go to latest release

Strong crude oil exports in February

The amount of goods exported in February ended at NOK 64.2 billion, while the imports exceeded NOK 31.7 billion. The trade balance thus became NOK 32.4 billion, which was a decline of 5.3 per cent compared to last month, but an increase of 7.3 per cent compared to February last year. Increased value of crude oil exports strengthened the trade balance.

The value of the exports of goods increased by NOK 699 million from last month, but was virtually the same as February last year. A simultaneous downturn of NOK 2.1 billion in imports led to an increase in the trade surplus compared to the same month last year. Both natural gas and crude oil exports exhibited some volatility compared to last February as the value of natural gas declined by NOK 9.2 billion while the crude oil increased by NOK 8.4 billion.

Increase in the export value of crude oil

The export value of crude oil came to NOK 24.7 billion and has not been as high since October 2008. Compared to January, the export value increased by 18.4 per cent and was 51.1 per cent higher than February last year. The main reason for the increase compared to a year ago was a significant price hike, but an additional 2.9 million exported barrels also contributed. The mean price per barrel was NOK 441 in February, which was a decrease of NOK 3 compared to last month.

Less natural gas exports

The volume of exports of natural gas in gaseous state was just 0.9 per cent lower than the same period last year. In February, the export amounted to 9 billion cubic metres. The main reason for the 40 per cent decline in value for the same period was therefore the high price level observed at the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009. Compared to January, the value of natural gas exports was NOK 1.8 billion lower and ended at NOK 13.8 billion in February.

External trade in goods, excl. ships and oil platforms. NOK million
  January-February Change in per cent February Change in per cent
  2009 2010 2009 2010
1 Imports 68 850 60 927 -11.5 33 868 31 723 -6.3
2 Exports  131 466  127 638 -2.9 64 114 64 169 0.1
Of which            
Crude oil 34 203 45 600 33.3 16 356 24 721 51.1
Natural gas 47 752 29 403 -38.4 22 991 13 805 -40.0
Condensates  783  754 -3.7  563  140 -75.2
3 Exports excl. crude oil, natural gas and condensates 48 728 51 882 6.5 24 204 25 503 5.4
4 Trade balance (2-1) 62 616 66 711 6.5 30 246 32 446 7.3
5 Trade balance excl. oil, natural gas and condensates (3-1) -20 122 -9 045 . -9 664 -6 220 .

Cars reduce fall in imports

The import value of goods excluding ships and oil platforms amounted to NOK 31.7 billion in February. This is a decline of 6.3 per cent compared to last February, but an increase of 8.6 per cent compared to last month.

The largest increase from February last year was in road vehicles, which amounted to NOK 3.1 billion; an increase of NOK 639 million. A total of 5 225 more imported cars was one important factor here. Other groups which showed strong growth for the same period were non-ferrous metals, which were NOK 486 million higher than February last year, and metalliferous ores and metal scrap where the value this February was NOK 433 million higher compared to the corresponding month last year. The value of these groups amounted to NOK 927 million and NOK 1.7 billion respectively. The import value of electric current more than doubled for the same period from NOK 229 million to NOK 523 million, which is the highest value recorded since October 2006.

The biggest decline was in the group for general industrial machinery and equipment, which was down NOK 793 million from last February and ended at NOK 1.7 billion. The imports of iron and steel declined by NOK 391 million to NOK 706 million.

Increase in the export value of fish

Exports excluding crude oil, natural gas, condensates, ships and oil platforms ended at NOK 25.5 billion. This is NOK 1.3 billion higher than last February.

Both the price and volume of fresh or chilled salmon increased compared to February last year, and the group for fish ended at NOK 4 billion. This was NOK 630 million more than the corresponding month last year. In addition, the group consisting of non-ferrous metals increased by NOK 522 million to NOK 3.2 billion. This was partly due to the increase in the volume of aluminium exports.

Machinery specialised for particular industries decreased the most. This group declined by NOK 335 million compared to last February and ended at NOK 1.1 billion.

Tables: