Trade deficit down 4.6% y/y in 1H16, excluding one-offs
In June 2016, exports decreased 15.5% y/y to US$ 167.9mn, imports were up 3.0% y/y to US$ 625.0mn (excluding donated C-hepatitis medication imports totaling US$ 840mn), and the trade deficit was up 12.0% y/y to US$ 457.1mn, according to GeoStat.
Reduced copper exports (-13.5% y/y) and ferro-alloys exports (-63.4% y/y) were the major commodities weighing on export growth in June 2016, while car exports (+7.9% y/y), nuts (+235.4% y/y), mineral waters (+8.6% y/y), wine (+12.2% y/y), gold (+47.4% y/y) and spirituous beverages (+130.5% y/y) posted strong increases.
Petroleum (-8.5% y/y), cars (+19.5% y/y), pharmaceuticals (-9.9% y/y, excluding one-offs), phones (-0.8% y/y), and copper (+7.3%) represented the top 5 imported commodities in June 2016.
In 1H16, the trade deficit was down 4.6% y/y to US$ 2.32bn excluding one-offs, as imports fell 7.0% y/y to US$ 3.27bn and exports fell 12.4% y/y to US$ 948.2mn.
In 1H16, 24% of exports were directed to the EU (-22% y/y), 31% to the CIS (-29% y/y), and 45% to other countries (+15% y/y), out of which Turkey (11.1% of total), and China (9.4% of total) were the largest export destinations.
In 1H16, 29% of imports came from the EU (-16.7% y/y), 26% from the CIS (-8.3% y/y), and 45% from other countries (-8.3% y/y), with Turkey (20.6% of total), and China (7.9% of total) being the largest trading partners (calculations exclude C-hepatitis medication imports).
