MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Latinamerica’s 2009 trade contracts 24% in value, the worst since 1973

The report was presented by Cepal office in Santiago de Chile

Latinamerica and Caribbean exports plunged 24% in value last year compared to 2008 because of the international crisis, according to the latest estimates from the United Nations Economic Commission for Latinamerica and the Caribbean, Cepal, released Thursday in Santiago de Chile.

The Cepal report, “International trade in Latinamerica and the Caribbean in 2009: crisis and recovery” adds that imports dropped 25% in value during last year. However in spite of the significant drops, the annual percentages are considerably less than those of the first half, (-31% and -29%) of 2009 and anticipate positive prospects for this year.

The report an update of a previous document from last August sets out the evolution of trade operations by region, country, produce, volume and value. For example the 24% drop in export value is made up of 15% in price and 9% in volume.

“The simultaneous reduction both in price and volume does not register a similar situation in recent history. The closest is is 1973”, indicates the document.

The region’s economic recovery experienced during the last quarter of 2009, according to Cepal can be attributed, among other reasons, to strong prices for commodities such as copper, zinc, oil, wheat and soybeans as well as the growing demand from China since the second quarter of last year.

The report also points out that even when the export contraction was widely extended during 2009, sub-regions and countries show significant differences. For example while Venezuelan exports dropped 42%; the Andean countries averaged a fall of 32%; Caribbean countries 29%; 22% for Mexico and Chile but only 6% for Central America.

Although the fall in imports is similar in percentage to that registered during the Latinamerican foreign debt crisis of 1982, the difference between sub-regions and countries is also evident: a 35% drop in the Caribbean; 22% down in Chile; 26% down in Mexico and 26% contraction in South America.

By sectors, minerals and oil exports were the most affected with an average fall of 42.3% during the first three quarters of 2009, while manufactured goods were down 25.4% and agriculture and livestock sales 18.4%.