IDB: First quarter exports from Latin American, Caribbean fall
WASHINGTON, DC, USA (CMC) — The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) said yesterday that the value of exports from Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) fell by 1.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2019, compared to the same period last year.
It said that the decrease was caused by lower export volumes and falling commodity prices and that the downturn ended 27 months of growth.
Exports have fallen in every subregion, but the drop was particularly pronounced in South America, according to the latest update of Trade Trend Estimates: Latin America and the Caribbean that is released by the IDB every six months.
The report noted that exports grew in several of the 26 countries discussed, although Barbados, Haiti, and Suriname were the only ones whose performances outstripped those of the first quarter of the previous year.
“A combination of risk factors is affecting the outlook for regional trade,” said Paolo Giordano, the economist at the IDB’s Trade and Integration Sector who coordinated the report.
“What happens next depends largely on the outcome of current global trade tensions and whether the Latin America and the Caribbean remains on a growth path.”
The figures for the first quarter of 2019 contrast with the revised data for 2018, which showed export growth of 8.9 per cent, although this slowed as the year went on and trade conflicts escalated.
The value of Latin American and Caribbean imports grew by 10.8 per cent in 2018 before stagnating in the first quarter of 2019.
China was the most dynamic destination for the region’s cumulative exports in the first quarter of 2019. US import demand slowed, and LAC exports to the European Union and within the region also contracted notably.
According to the IDB, in the first quarter of 2019, growth in exports from the Caribbean slowed slightly in the first quarter of 2018, according to estimates based on data for five countries in the subregion.
No figures were available for The Bahamas, Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.
The IDB said South American exports fell by 5.4 per cent after expanding an average rate of 8.3 per cent in 2018 and that Mesoamerican exports increased an estimated 2.1 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019.
“This compares to 9.4 per cent in 2018. This slowdown is explained by the slower growth of Mexican exports and the contraction of Central American ones,” it added.
