Belize’s domestic exports for July 2019 increased by 44.1% over July 2018, thanks to a significant jump in earnings from sugar, a doubling in revenues from RK beans exports, and a small boost in earnings from marine products. Earnings from sugar in July 2018 was $12.1 million and that bumped up to $22.4 million in July 2019, an increase of $10.3 million; there was an increase in exports of lobster tails, and this pushed earnings from marine exports up, from $3.6 million in July of 2018 to $4.3 million in July 2019, and earnings from RK beans was $1.8 million, up from $0.9 million.

Citrus and bananas did not keep pace, with the value of the exports of citrus products falling slightly, from $5.2 million in July 2018 to $4.9 million in July 2019, owing mostly to diminished sales of orange concentrate, while earnings from bananas fell $0.3 million, from a little over $7 million to $6.7 million.

Merchandise exports for January – July 2019 down 1.5 percent compared to 2018

Revenues from citrus and crude petroleum were down in the period January to July 2019, with citrus exports falling 30%. Earnings from citrus from January to July 2019 was $39 million, $16.8 million less than the $55.8 million citrus earned during the same period in 2018, and, even though we exported about the same quantity of crude petroleum, lower market prices saw us earning $3 million less in the period, from $15.9 million in 2018 to $12.9 million in 2019.

Better prices for lobster tails and a small increase in shrimp exports pushed earnings from marine products up “$1.5 million during the period, from $18.4 million in 2018 to $19.9 million in 2019”, the SIB said. There was a 12.6% increase in the quantity of sugar exported, but because of low prices on the world market earnings only increased 0.7% in the period, rising from $86 million January-July 2018 to $86.6 million January-July 2019.

Revenues from molasses went up during the period by $2 million, from $4.4 million in 2018 to $6.4 million in 2019; revenues from exports of RK beans was also up $2 million, from $5.2 million in 2018 to nearly $7.3 million in 2019; exports of  black eyed peas for the period totaled $3.7 million, $1.8 million more than the $1.9 million it earned in 2018; and sawn wood surged “more than $1 million, from just below $0.9 million in 2018 to $1.9 million in 2019”, the SIB report said.