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92636
Lower exports and imports
statistikk
2013-04-15T10:00:00.000Z
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, March 2013

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Lower exports and imports

Exports of goods amounted to NOK 75.9 billion, while imports amounted to NOK 38.1 billion in March 2013. This is a decrease of 16.3 and 11.9 per cent respectively from March 2012. The fall in exports is caused by a decrease in both exports of oil, natural gas and mainland exports.

External trade in goodsPublished 15 April 2013
NOK MillionChange in per centNOK Million - so far this yearChange in per cent - so far this year
March 2013February 2013 - March 2013March 2012 - March 2013March 2013March 2012 - March 2013
1Due to the data collection method, the preliminary monthly figures published for ships and oil platforms are often incomplete. In retrospect, therefore, the trade in these goods could in some cases lead to major corrections in the figures. Please see tables 2-4 for the impact these figures have on the external trade.
Imports38 135-5.0-11.9121 216-1.0
Ships and oil platforms1275-57.4-46.91 93516.6
 
Exports75 8523.9-16.3224 673-13.3
Crude oil24 3981.6-20.169 506-20.8
Natural gas20 6787.2-16.862 227-15.5
Natural gas condensates80572.9-1.92 478-14.7
Ships and oil platforms1--100.0-100.0855-40.6
Mainland exports29 9714.0-10.589 608-4.0
 
The trade balance37 71814.8-20.2103 457-24.2
The mainland trade balance-7 88826.115.2-29 67210.7

Source: Statistics Norway

The trade surplus decreased by 20.2 per cent and amounted to NOK 37.7 billion in March 2013. This drop is caused by exports falling more than imports. So far this year exports have decreased by 13.3 per cent, while imports have decreased by only 1 per cent compared to the corresponding month last year. This leads to a trade surplus in the first quarter that is nearly 25 per cent lower than the corresponding period in 2012. Some of the reduction in imports and exports is probably related to the fact that Easter fell in different months in 2012 and 2013.

Lower exports of oil and gas

The exports of crude oil amounted to NOK 24.4 billion in March 2013. This is a decrease of NOK 6.1 billion, or 20.1 per cent compared to the corresponding month the previous year. The drop is mainly due to lower prices, but a reduced volume also influenced the reduction. The price per barrel of crude oil fell from NOK 723 in March 2012 to NOK 636 in March 2013; a decrease of 12 per cent. Exported volume decreased by 3.9 million barrels to 38.4 million barrels in 2013.

Exports of natural gas amounted to NOK 20.7 billion in March; 16.8 per cent less than March 2012. A total of 10.3 billion standard cubic metres of natural gas were exported.

Considerable drop in mainland exports

Exports of mainland goods amounted to NOK 30 billion in March. This is 10.5 per cent less compared to the corresponding month last year. Exports in the first quarter of 2013 fell by 4 per cent compared to the same period in 2012. For all the commodity groups, except one, exports dropped in March compared to the corresponding month the previous year.

The exports of fish amounted to NOK 4.4 billion in March 2013 – a decrease of 5.5 per cent compared to March 2012. The decrease came despite an increase in exports of fresh whole salmon from NOK 2.1 to NOK 2.4 billion. This is an increase of 15.4 per cent compared to March 2012. Even though the volume dropped, the increase in price contributed to a higher export value.

The exports of refined mineral products increased by almost NOK 640 million to NOK 5.4 billion from March 2012 to 2013. The value for the commodity group manufactured goods decreased from NOK 6.6 billion in March 2012 to NOK 5.2 billion in March 2013; a reduction of 20.3 per cent compared to the corresponding month last year. All sub-groups showed a fall in exports, where non-ferrous metals fell the most. The value of exports for this group decreased by over NOK 800 million compared to the previous year. Lower exports of aluminium accounted for most of this drop.

The exports within the group machinery and transport equipment amounted to NOK 5.8 billion last month; a decrease of NOK 1.2 billion compared to March 2012. Among its sub-groups, machinery for special industries fell the most. This group decreased by NOK 200 million to NOK 1.2 billion in March 2013. For the commodity group miscellaneous manufactured articles, exports amounted to NOK 1.8 billion in March. This was almost NOK 350 million lower than the corresponding month the previous year.

Drop in imports

The total import in March amounted to NOK 38.1 billion – 11.9 per cent lower compared to the corresponding month last year. All commodity groups decreased.

The biggest fall came in the commodity group machinery and transport equipment, which fell by almost NOK 2 billion to NOK 14.3 billion. All of the sub-groups showed a lower import. The sub-group other transport equipment accounted for the highest drop, down almost NOK 900 million compared to March 2012. Most of this was caused by lower imports of ships. The sub-group road vehicles also fell considerably, by over NOK 300 million compared with last year, to NOK 4.3 billion this year.

Imports of manufactured goods fell NOK 1.3 billion from NOK 7.3 billion to NOK 5.9 billion from March 2012 to March 2013. The drop here was also broad-based since all the sub-groups fell.