Increased export of machinery and fish

Norway exported traditional commodities worth NOK 45.1 billion in the first quarter. This was NOK 2.5 billion less than in the first quarter of 1998, a decline of 5.2 per cent, primarily because refined petroleum products and basic metals brought in a total of NOK 3.2 billion less than in the same period last year. On the other hand, the export of industrial machinery, fish and finished goods increased by a total of NOK 1.2 billion.

Goods worth NOK 63.3 billion were imported in the first quarter, a decline of NOK 2.4 billion from last year. Thus, the balance of trade deficit for traditional commodities came to NOK 18 billion, the same as in the first quarter 1998.
When crude oil and natural gas were included, the trade surplus in goods excluding ships and oil platforms was NOK 9.7 billion, compared with NOK 16.1 billion for the first three months of 1998. This decline is due to a decrease of NOK 6.4 billion in the export of crude oil and natural gas.
The trade in traditional commodities also shows a slight decline in the first quarter this year when the data are seasonally adjusted. For the three-month period from January to March, the seasonally adjusted figures show a decline of 1.6 per cent for exports and 2.6 per cent for imports compared with the previous three-month period. From February to March, however, the seasonally adjusted figures show an increase of 3.5 per cent for exports, while imports increased by 0.6 per cent.
Less export to Europe, more to Asia
During the first quarter Norway exported traditional commodities worth a total of NOK 32.5 billion to the EU, compared with 34.7 billion in the same period in 1998. Exports to Great Britain were reduced by NOK 1 billion, a decline of 15 per cent. Exports to both Germany and Denmark were NOK 700 million lower, amounting to a decline of 12 per cent to Germany and 17 per cent to Denmark. Our exports to Sweden came to NOK 5.6 billion, an increase of NOK 175 million. Exports to Asia amounted to NOK 4.2 billion in the first quarter. Commodities worth NOK 1.8 billion went to Japan, an increase of 31 per cent. At the same time we doubled our exports to South Korea to NOK 770 million. The export increases to Japan and South Korea were mainly due to higher exports of fish and industrial machinery.

New Statistics
External trade with commodities, March 1999.
These statistics are published monthly in The Weekly Bulletin of Statistics and the Monthly Bulletin of External Trade. They are also available on the Internet: http://www.ssb.no/. Detailed figures are also available at Customer Services, External Trade, tel.: +47 21 09 47 52/53. Volume and price indices for the first quarter 1999 will be released on 18 May 1999. For more information contact: Anne.Berit.Dahle@ssb.no, tel.: +47 21 09 47 10.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 16, 1999