JAMAICA lost nearly US$100 million in export earnings during the first five months of 2026, as a sharp fall-off in mining wiped out the additional dollars brought in by manufacturers.

Total exports fell 12.5 per cent to US$674.7 million between January and May, down from US$770.9 million over the same period last year, according to the latest merchandise trade data from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin). Domestic exports slipped by a similar 12.6 per cent to US$618.8 million.

But the fall in exports was not across the board. Manufacturing exports rose 22.5 per cent to US$407.6 million, adding almost US$75 million in earnings over the comparable 2025 period. Mining and quarrying, however, fell 46.4 per cent to US$179.7 million, a drop of roughly US$155.5 million, while agriculture lost another US$11.5 million as earnings fell 38.2 per cent to US$18.5 million.

Mining alone therefore lost more than twice what manufacturing gained, leaving Jamaica with weaker overall export earnings even as one of its biggest producing sectors recorded a strong rebound.

The decline was concentrated heavily in alumina, where export earnings were nearly halved to US$149.8 million, down 47.9 per cent from a year earlier. Bauxite earnings also fell 44.3 per cent to US$22.9 million.

Those numbers come after an already difficult 2025 for a sector that had been one of the main drivers of Jamaica’s export performance a year earlier. Mining and quarrying exports climbed to US$791.5 million in 2024, from US$561.2 million in 2023, before falling 21.1 per cent to US$624.1 million last year. Alumina accounted for much of the reversal, declining from US$720.7 million in 2024 to US$534.5 million in 2025.

The industry then entered 2026 still dealing with disruption from Hurricane Melissa, which struck Jamaica last October. Production was reduced ahead of the storm and the return to full operations was gradual, with the country’s major operating plants still below full capacity late last year. The Planning Institute of Jamaica subsequently estimated that mining and quarrying output contracted 26.6 per cent in the March quarter as crude bauxite and alumina production fell.

The sector also continues to operate without Alpart, which has been out of production since 2019. Plans are under way to rehabilitate the St Elizabeth refinery, but it is not yet contributing to current export output.

Agriculture has been moving in the same direction, though from a much smaller base.

Export earnings from the sector fell from US$92.7 million in 2023 to US$76.6 million in 2024 and US$62.0 million last year, before dropping another 38.2 per cent during the first five months of 2026.

Yams were among the biggest casualties, with export earnings falling 57.4 per cent to US$5.9 million, while coffee exports declined 29.9 per cent to US$5.7 million. Other root crops were down 20.5 per cent.

Hurricane Melissa compounded problems already showing up in the export numbers. The storm caused widespread damage across farming areas, including yam and coffee-producing districts, prompting Government to roll out recovery programmes for affected crops. Coffee exporters have estimated that the hurricane destroyed close to 40 per cent of the mature crop for the 2025/26 season.

Meanwhile, the situation in manufacturing is markedly different. Export earnings from the sector rose to US$407.6 million between January and May, reversing the 4.5 per cent decline recorded for all of 2025. The strongest growth came from other manufactured products, which jumped 41.7 per cent to US$250.2 million, driven largely by refined petroleum products, up 35.1 per cent to US$213.3 million. Chemical and chemical product exports also more than doubled.

The rebound follows several years of softer manufacturing earnings. The sector peaked at US$961.2 million in 2022 before easing to US$854.1 million in 2023, US$841.6 million in 2024 and US$803.4 million last year. Food, beverages and tobacco have held up better, rising from US$333.5 million in 2021 to US$385.2 million in 2025.

The weakness in exports is also widening Jamaica’s trade imbalance. Imports rose 1.8 per cent to US$3.22 billion during January to May, widening the visible trade deficit to US$2.54 billion, from US$2.39 billion a year earlier. That works out to roughly US$0.21 earned from exports for every US$1 spent on imported goods during the five-month period. For full-year 2025, the comparable ratio was US$0.22, down from US$0.26 in 2024.

There has been some improvement in Jamaica’s biggest export markets. Earnings from the country’s five largest destinations fell 20 per cent in 2025, but were down just 0.5 per cent during January to May this year. Exports to the United States, Jamaica’s largest market, actually rose to US$333.6 million from US$291.5 million a year earlier.