BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Dec. 19, 2019– According to the Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB), Belize imported $180.8 million worth of goods in November 2019, 9.2% or $15.2 million more than it did in November 2018. The categories where imports increased are ‘Food and Live Animals’, ‘Mineral Fuels and Lubricants’, ‘Chemical Products’, ‘Machinery and Transport Equipment’, ‘Manufactured Goods’, and ‘Crude Materials’.

The ‘Food and Live Animals’ category increased from $17.2 million to $23.2 million because of more imports of wheat, corn seeds, and lard; doubled imports of regular and premium fuel saw the ‘Mineral Fuels and Lubricants’ category go up from $21.7 million to $27.1 million; and imports of ‘Chemical Products’ went from $13.3 million to $15.9 million, on account of greater purchases of fertilizers.

The ‘Machinery and Transport Equipment’ category, with more imports of bottling machinery, motorcycles and vessels, went from $32.9 million to $34.8 million; increased imports of storage tanks sent up the bill in the ‘Manufactured Goods’ category from $22.9 million to $24.8 million; and increased imports of pine lumber saw the bill in the ‘Crude Materials’ category go from $2.5 million to $4.1 million.

The SIB said the only noteworthy decrease in November 2019 was in imports destined for the ‘Commercial Free Zones’, which, with less purchases of tennis shoes and cigarettes, fell from $35.5 million to $30.3 million. (From SIB Report)

Belize imported 2.6% more goods in Jan-Nov 2019 compared to Jan-Nov 2018

The SIB said the value of Belize’s imports from January to November 2019 amounted to $1.8 billion, 2.6 percent or $46.6 million more than the value of imports for the same period last year. The ‘Mineral Fuels and Lubricants’ category went up, from $255.4 million to $273.8 million, due mainly to increased importation of diesel and kerosene fuels; and ‘Manufactured Goods’, with higher imports of storage tanks, metal structures and vehicle tires, went from $227.1 million to $243.3 million.

Imports of ‘Food and Live Animals’ went from $202.2 million in 2018 to $210.3 million in 2019, as a result of greater imports of wheat and corn seeds and lard; and greater purchases of treated pine lumber and fruit seeds pushed the bill for the ‘Crude Materials’ category from $26.7 million to $34.4 million in the first eleven months of 2019.

Imports into the ‘Commercial Free Zones’ went up from $297.2 million to $300.2 million, due to larger purchases of clothing and cigarettes; the ‘Oils and Fats’ category rose from $15.5 million to $18.2 million, due to greater imports of vegetable cooking oils; and the import bill for the ‘Machinery and Transport Equipment’ category, with higher purchases of computers and dielectric transformers, went from $363.5 million in 2018 to $365.6 million in 2019.

There were decreased imports in the ‘Other Manufactures’ category, with imports falling in the category from $138.8 million to $132.8 million due largely to decreased purchases of surveying equipment, lamps and lighting fixtures; and the ‘Designated Processing Areas’ category went down from $35.8 million to $30.4 million due to smaller purchases of parts for food processing machinery, filtering equipment and juice concentrates. (From SIB Report)

Domestic exports in November 2019 up 28.1% over exports in November 2018

Increased exports of marine products, molasses, bananas, and citrus products helped push earnings from domestic exports for November 2019 to $26.9 million, 28.1 percent or $5.9 million more than domestic export earnings in November 2018.

The value of lobster tails and conch that were exported went from $2.6 million to $5.7 million; earnings from molasses exports went from $0.01 million to $1.8 million; revenues from bananas went up, from $5.7 million in November 2018 to $7.1 million in November 2019; and revenues from citrus products, with improved exports of grapefruit concentrate, went from $3 million to $3.8 million.

Sugar earnings dipped slightly, from $2.1 million to $2 million, because of decreased prices for the commodity on the world market, and earnings from animal feed fell from $1.3 million in November 2018 to $0.1 million in November 2019. (From SIB Report).

Merchandise exports up 3.7% in Jan-Nov 2019 over Jan-Nov 2018

Sugar, marine products, molasses, RK beans and black-eyed peas led the way, as merchandize exports between November and January 2019 totaled almost $368 million, an increase of 3.7% or $13.8 million over exports in the same period in 2018.

Earnings from sugar went from $111.5 million to $134.3 million; better prices for lobster tails and more sales of conch helped earnings from marine products go from $37.5 million to $43.6 million; bananas earned $72.3 million, compared to a little over $67-million in the eleven month period in 2018; molasses earned $10.1 million, $3.8 million more than last year; RK beans earned more than $12 million, about $3.5 million more than in 2018; and exports of black-eyed peas increased from $3.5 million in 2018 to $5.5 million in 2019.

Areas of the economy that did very poorly were citrus products and crude petroleum. Citrus earned $53.7 million, down from $70.3 million in 2018; and crude petroleum earned $12.9 million, down from $24.6 million in 2018. Export earnings from animal feed fell from $13.7 million in 2018 to $11.1 million in 2019, and export earnings from sawn wood also declined, from $4.2 million to $3.1 million. (From SIB Report)