MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine exports reach historic highs

Argentina's trade surplus for the first half of the year was US$ 3,093 million.

Argentina has shipped exports worth an all-time high of US$ 44 billion in the first half of 2022, according to Foreign Ministry data, it was reported Monday.

A press release by the Argentine Foreign Ministry showed exports during the first six months of this year amounted to US$ 44,377 million, 12% above figures from 2011. When compared to 2021, the increase was 25.5%, and 44% against 2019. Argentine officials are projecting exports worth US$ 90 billion by year's end.

The official document also noted that exports of manufactures of industrial origin (MOI) reached US$ 11,088 million, the highest value since 2013, with an increase in exported quantities of over 6% for the first half of 2021. Vehicles stood out, with 140,049 units sold, 32,000 more than in 2019.

“Exports grew at a faster pace than production, which kept operating at levels above pre-pandemic levels. As a result, the export/production ratio reached 57% in the first half of this year, more than 7 points above the level of 2018″, detailed the survey.

Although ”international prices are key to explain the export dynamics, the growth in exported quantities is also relevant“. In this regard, it was reported that the second quarter of 2022 represents the highest record in quantities exported for that period since 2013.”

The study also highlighted the role of pharmaceutical products, which recorded a year-on-year growth of 27% and over 50% compared to 2019. This marked the highest level of sales to the international market in the last 12 years.

“Almost all provinces increased their exports and all regions of the country increased their shipments abroad in the first half of the year,” the Foreign Ministry report also pointed out.

Regional productions -agricultural commodities, fuels, and mining excluded- reached their highest level in the last eight years in 2021 with US$ 8.8 billion and continued to grow 11% in 2022.

The document also showed an increase in the number of exporting companies of 2% above last year's records and 9% above the pandemic-disrupted 2020, with over 7,500 such firms on the registries, more than in 2018, but still below the 2011 record of 10,389.

Imports in the first semester of 2022 totaled US$ 41,284 million, the highest for the first half of any year, boosted by the increase in the price of fuels and fertilizers and by the quantities of capital goods and their parts, reflecting both the effects of the international context and the domestic dynamics of an expansion of production and investment.

Argentina's trade surplus for the first half of the year was US$ 3,093 million.