Jan int’l trade surges 28.8% to $3.49B
Jan int’l trade surges 28.8% to $3.49B
Cambodia's international merchandise trade volume reached $3.490 billion last month, marking a 28.77 per cent drop versus $4.900 billion in January 2022, as imports plunged by over three-eighths, according to Customs (GDCE).
This also represents a 17.29 per cent decrease from the $4.220 billion recorded in December 2022, which had been up 15.94 per cent and 16.67 per cent from $3.640 billion in November and $3.617 billion in September – 2022’s weakest months – but still down 24.34 per cent from the annual peak of $5.577 billion logged in July, GDCE statistics show.
January exports amounted to $1.568 billion, down 13.95 per cent year-on-year and down 22.58 per cent month-on-month, while imports came to $1.922 billion, down 37.54 per cent year-on-year and down 12.40 per cent month-on-month.
The monthly trade deficit was to the tune of $354.463 million, narrowing 71.77 per cent year-on-year but expanding 109.3 per cent month-on-month.
Mainland China was the Kingdom’s largest trading partner for January, accounting for $972.736 million, which was down 18.3 per cent year-on-year, followed by the US ($581.202 million, down 23.1%), Vietnam ($478.757 million, down 1.8%), Thailand ($341.189 million, down 5.5%), and Japan ($146.379 million, down 0.7%).
The top 20 trading partners that registered year-on-year increases were Indonesia ($88.045 million; up 95.9%), India ($37.305 million; up 26.7%), Spain ($47.190 million; up 23.8%), Australia ($49.486 million; up 12.9%) and South Korea ($68.562 million; up 0.6%).
Trade with partners outside the top 20 list came in at just $177.359 million, down 67.78 per cent year-on-year and down 32.64 per cent month-on-month.
Hong Vanak, director of International Economics at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, remarked that, since the second half of 2022, general declines in orders for priority Cambodian goods from major target export markets have been reported, which he blamed on global economic uncertainty.
Economic turbulence tied to the Covid-19 crisis, geopolitical conflicts, and the turmoil in Ukraine has pushed up prices for raw materials while dragging down household incomes and purchasing power, prompting people around the world to tighten their purse strings, he said.
“The global health and economic crises are increasingly compromising demand for non-food products that are less essential for day-to-day life, and since most of Cambodia’s exports are in the textile and bicycle sectors, it’s difficult to avoid a decline in orders at this time,” Vanak told The Post on February 20, noting that production capacity in the Kingdom has essentially seen no substantial reductions in production capacity.
Still, he claimed, things could improve in the remaining 11 months of the year, especially with a swift end to armed conflict in Ukraine. But significant lingering political and economic risks could stall national economic growth, he maintained.
Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC) vice-president Lim Heng could not be reached for comment.
But in a previous interview, Heng mentioned that exports are steadily shedding their reliance on garments, footwear and travel bags, becoming progressively more diverse. He highlighted the increasing shares of electrical and electronic components, bicycles, agricultural products and other items among Cambodian merchandise in overseas markets.
This, he stressed, is in stark contrast from a decade ago.
“Cambodia’s international trade volume will keep rising in 2023, outstripping 2022’s total, with even more diverse exports, and imports mostly comprising raw materials and inputs for export-oriented production,” Heng predicted.
Even so, the government has revised down its 2023 growth forecast for the Cambodian economy to 5.6 per cent versus the 6.6 per cent it put forth in October, citing uncertainty about global economic growth tied to the Ukraine conflict, climate change and the Covid-19 crisis.
And in a December 7 statement, the World Bank pegged Cambodia’s economic growth at 4.8 per cent in 2022 and 5.2 per cent for 2023, “as increased hiring supports rising domestic consumption and as inflation recedes”.
GDCE data show that Cambodia’s international merchandise trade volume totalled $52.425 billion last year, increasing by 9.19 per cent versus 2021.
Of that, the Kingdom’s imports and exports clocked in at $29.942 billion and $22.483 billion, up 4.32 per cent and 16.44 per cent year-on-year, narrowing the trade deficit by 20.60 per cent on a yearly basis to $7.459 billion.
