Three Ecuadorian products sold less to the world in January 2022

In general, non-oil and non-mining exports from Ecuador in January 2022 were positive, products were sold to the world for 1,418 million dollars; that is, 30% more than in January 2021. Although in the total tons shipped there was a drop of 9%, according to data from the Ecuadorian Federation of Exporters (Fedexpor).

Puerto Bolívar also leaves Ecuadorian exports.

Despite the positive figure for general exports, there are three sectors that decreased their sales : wood and manufactures (-5%), bananas and plantains (-3%) and cocoa and processed products (-1%). The destinations that bought the least were Colombia and the European Union, respectively.

When looking at exports by destination , arrivals fell to the United States , among other reasons due to the problem of lack of transportation. In amount, the flowers were reduced by 22% ; likewise, cocoa beans fell 13% and bananas and plantains decreased 9%.

Regarding this, the president of Fedexpor, Felipe Ribadeneira, commented that for non-oil exports, the last two years have been marked by multiple difficulties to maintain the position in international markets.

Ribadeneira emphasized that the pandemic and its aftermath in logistics , the cost overruns of insecurity and high levels of tax pressure make it more difficult each year to forecast growth in most export sectors. As an aggravating factor to this situation, in recent weeks the world has witnessed an armed conflict that, in addition to the irreparable human losses, is causing destabilization at all levels of trade and economic relations on a global scale. You have to see in the figures for March this year the effects of this on Ecuador’s exports.

For now, the aquaculture and fishing sector continues to lead the products that Ecuador exports the most: shrimp (537 million dollars) , canned fish (92 million dollars) and tuna and fish (38 million dollars). Another sector that had good results in general, despite the drop in sales in one destination, was that of flowers (82 million dollars).

Non-oil and non-mining imports rose by 45% , amounting to 1,845 million dollars; in such a way that the commercial balance is negative with 427 million dollars.

The increase in imports was mainly due to the raw material that Ecuadorian companies demanded to produce their articles. Likewise, the requirement for capital goods rose.

Faced with the situation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the National Government indicated that the private sector must assume the effects . The Minister of Production, Julio José Prado, told Diario EXPRESO that they are not going to nationalize the exporter’s losses, although they will try to alleviate the blow with urgent measures, such as credit lines and tax refunds.

Fedexpor said that it will be necessary to eliminate tax surcharges on inputs and intermediate goods that, as a result of this situation, have increased their costs and that threaten to make production even more expensive both for export and for local consumption.

 “Likewise, the application of the simplified tax refund ( drawback) is a mechanism that can leverage this effort to consolidate the position of our products in all international markets, at a time when international demand will prioritize lower prices even more” Ribadeneira said.