BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Jan. 30, 2020– SIB (Statistical Institute of Belize) data for imports for December 2019 show that Belize imported $162.5 million worth of goods for the month, 6.4% or $9.7 million more than the $152.8 million worth of goods we imported in December of 2018.
The most significant growth in imports was of “Manufactured Goods”, which increased 40%, from $17.3 million in December 2018 to $24.2 million in December 2019, because of more imports of metal structures and galvanized steel coils.
Imports of “‘Machinery and Transport Equipment’ grew from $27.5 million to $32.1 million, as a result of greater purchases of water pumps, portable agricultural sprayers and conveyor belts; goods destined for the ‘Commercial Free Zones’ went up from $26.8 million in December 2018 to $29.7 million in December 2019, due to bigger imports of cigarettes and clothing; boosted imports of rice seeds, infant formulas and soybean meal led to an increase in the ‘Food and Live Animals’ category, from $17.6 million to $19.9 million; the ‘Beverages and Tobacco’ category, with heightened imports of beer, hard liquor and cigarettes grew from $3.6 million to $4.9 million; and larger purchases of medicines, fertilizers and vaccines led to the ‘Chemical Products’ going up by $1.1 million, from $12.3 million to $13.4 million.”
The amount of money spent to import items in the ‘Mineral Fuels and Lubricants’ category decreased “by more than $6 million, from $27.4 to $21.3 million, mainly on account of smaller imports of diesel fuel; imports for the ‘Designated Processing Areas’ went down from almost $3 million to $1.4 million, due to reduced purchases of various types of containers and video game consoles, while diminished imports of fruit and vegetable seeds and used clothing, led to a decline in the ‘Crude Materials’ category, from $3.4 million to $2.3 million.”
Belize imported $1.97 billion worth of goods in 2019, $56.3 million or 2.9% more than 2018
Belize imported $1.97 billion worth of goods in 2019. “‘Manufactured Goods’ recorded the largest growth, with an increase of over $23 million, from $244.4 million in 2018 to $267.5 million in 2019, due to greater imports of metal structures, gas tanks and tires; ‘Mineral Fuels and Lubricants’ increased from $282.9 million in 2018 to $295.1 million in 2019, as the country imported larger quantities of diesel and regular fuels, as well as kerosene and bunker C fuels in 2019.
There was a rise in food imports, the “‘Food and Live Animals’ category increasing from $219.7 million to $230.2 million because of greater imports of lard (shortening), milk and cream, and margarine; the ‘Machinery and Transport Equipment’ category went up from $390.9 million in 2018 to $397.6 million in 2019, as the country saw higher purchases of vehicles, computers and dielectric transformers; the ‘Crude Materials’ category saw larger imports of treated pine lumber, fruit seeds and calcium sulphates and went from $30.1 million to $36.7 million; goods meant for the ‘Commercial Free Zones’ went up from $324 million in 2018 to $329.9 million in 2019, because of bigger purchases of men’s clothing and sweaters .
“Increased imports of cooking oils, such as soybean oils, pushed the ‘Oils and Fats’ category, from $16.8 million to $19.6 million, and boosted imports of alcoholic beverages and supplemental nutrition drinks led to a growth in the ‘Beverages and Tobacco’ category, from $37.9 million in 2018 to almost $40 million in 2019.
“There was a decrease in imports in some categories, ‘Designated Processing Areas’ falling from $38.8 million in 2018 to $31.9 million in 2019, due to decreased purchases of parts for food processing machinery, filtering equipment and fruit concentrates, while lowered imports of surveying equipment, lamps and lighting fixtures caused the ‘Other Manufactures’ category to decline from $150.9 million to $144.6 million.”
Domestic exports in December 2019 up 18.9% over December exports for 2018
Belize exported $25.9 million worth of goods in December 2019, $4.1 million more than the $21.8 million recorded for December of 2018. The big jump is credited to crude petroleum, with exports of that commodity valuing $7.4 million in December 2019. Belize exported no crude petroleum in December last year.
“Exports of sugar increased by $0.8 million, from $1.3 million in December 2018 to $2.1 million in December 2019, and marine exports, with improved sales of shrimp, went up by $0.3 million, from $4.9 million to $5.2 million.
“Earnings from bananas dropped from $7.3 million in December 2018 to $5.1 million in December 2019, while sales of citrus products diminished from $3.4 million to $2.6 million, owing to decreased exports of both orange and grapefruit concentrate.”
Total merchandize exports for 2019 was $411.8 million, up 4.6 percent
Belize’s total merchandize exports for 2019 went up $17.9 million over 2018, from $393.9 million to $411.8 million. Sugar was Belize’s top earner again, increasing significantly from $112.8 million in 2018 to $136.4 million in 2019, and “marine exports went up from $42.4 million to $48.8 million, due to improved sales of lobster tails and conch, while earnings from bananas grew from $74.3 million to $77.4 million during the year.”
“Earnings from molasses rose from $6.3 million in 2018 to $10.1 million in 2019; revenues from red kidney beans went up by one-third, from $9.4 million to $12.6 million; and exports of black-eyed peas grew from $4.2 million in 2018 to $5.5 million in 2019.
“Citrus exports dropped by more than $17 million, from $73.7 million in 2018 to $56.3 million in 2019; despite a 5.6 percent increase in exported quantities of crude petroleum, earnings from that commodity fell from $24.6 million to $20.3 million, as a result of diminished world market prices; and sales of animal feed dropped by almost one-fourth, from just above $15 million to $11.4 million, during the year.”
-condensed from the SIB report-