BELIZE CITY, Wed. August 29, 2018– Today, the Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB) held a press conference at which Statistician II Tiffany Vasquez discussed import and domestic export rates for July 2018. According to Vasquez, Belize’s total imports for the month were valued at $165.6 million, which showed an increase of 7.5% or $11.5 million from July 2017, when imports totaled $154.1 million.

The majority of this increase was due to a 40% growth in the “Food and Live Animals” category, up $6.1 million from $15.1 million in July 2017, to $21.2 million in July 2018. The reason for this increase was a spike in the importation of wheat (for milling) and various other grocery items.

Heightened purchases of cigarettes and clothing led to the increase of the imports of goods that fall under the “Commercial Free Zone” category. The value of purchases in that category went from $26.6 million to $30.7 million, an increase of $4.1 million.

Other categories which showed increases were “Machinery and Transport Equipment,” which rose by $3.3 million, from $29 million to $32.3 million, due to increased purchases of optical fibers, transformers, and vehicles; and “Manufactured Goods,” which increased by $2.1 million, from $18 million to $20.1 million, because of increased imports of glass bottles and polyester fabrics.

For the first seven months of the year, imports amounted to $1.1 billion, which constitutes an increase of 3.9%, or $40.4 million, compared to the same period last year.  Increased purchases of goods in the four previously mentioned categories of imports contributed to this increase.

Imports in the “Food and Live Animals” categories went up by $5.8 million, from $124.6 million to $130.4 million, because of the increased purchase of various grocery items; the imports under the “Commercial Free Zone” category went up by $14.4 million, from $161.4 million to $175.8 million, due to increased spending on handbags and clothing; “Mineral Fuels and Lubricants” imports rose from a little under $129 million in 2017 to $158.3 million in 2018, due to increased payments for all imported fuels because of higher world market prices; and imports of “Machinery and Transport Equipment” grew from $211.6 million to more than $223 million because of increased imports of telecommunications equipment, vehicles and food processing machines.

These increases were somewhat offset by decreased imports in the categories of “Other Manufacturers,” “Crude Materials,” and “Chemical Products,” which together declined by more than $21 million. Imports of “Other Manufacturers” fell from $94.8 million in 2017 to $86.3 million in 2018, due to decreased imports of laboratory plastics, prefabricated steel buildings and lamps and lighting fixtures. Imports of “Crude Materials” went from a little over $23 million to 15.8 million, with fewer purchases being made of pine lumber and grass seeds. Imports of “Chemical Products” decreased from $109 million to $103.7 million because of less imports of antibiotics, fertilizers, and herbicides.

July 2018 saw an increase of exports, from $28.4 million in 2017 to $32.4 million, an increase of 14% or nearly $4 million.

This increase was mostly due to a boost in exports of two of Belize’s major commodities: sugar and bananas. Revenues gained from sugar sales increased from $1.5 million to $12.1 million, due to variation in the timing of bulk shipments. Exports for July 2018 also included bulk sugar, as opposed to July 2017 which only comprised sales of bagged sugar. Banana exports grew by almost 50%, from just under $5 million to $7.5 million.

The other major exports, including crude petroleum, citrus products, marine products, and molasses all saw decreases, however. Exports of crude petroleum for July 2017 totaled $5.1 million, but there were no shipments of that commodity for July 2018. Similarly with molasses, there were virtually no export earnings for the month of July, but in 2017 a bulk shipment resulted in earnings of $2.1 million. With reduced exports of lobster tails, total exports of marine products fell from $3.8 million to $3.6 million. Exports of citrus products fell from $6.4 million to $5.2 million due to a decline in sales of orange concentrate.

With regards to the first seven months of the year, merchandise exports totaled $258.9 million, decreasing by 15% or $45.9 million compared to last year.

Export earnings from all major commodities declined over the period. Although the volume of sugar exported increased by 6%, revenue from the commodity underwent the greatest decline over the period as earnings fell by 21.2% or $23.2 million, from $109.1 million to almost $86 million, owing to diminished prices for bulk sugar on the European market.

Revenues from citrus exports also dropped from about $64 million to $55.8 million, with revenue from orange concentrate and orange oil having the most significant decreases of all the citrus products. Exports of bananas also fell from $46.7 million to a little over $43 million, and dwindling shrimp exports led to a decrease in exports of marine products, from just above $21 million to $18.4 million.

Crude petroleum earnings suffered slightly over the period, going from $16.5 million to $15.9 million.