29-12-2020
The Planning and Statistics Authority issued its preliminary report on foreign trade statistics for the month of November 2020, as the report includes data on exports (of local origin and re-exports) and imports. The following is a brief presentation of the data:
During the month of November 2020, the value of total Qatari exports (which includes exports of local origin and re-exports) amounted to approximately 16.6 billion Qatari riyals, a decrease of 25.1% compared to November 2019, and an increase of 8.3% compared to October 2020.
On the other hand, the value of merchandise imports decreased during the month of November 2020, to reach about 7.5 billion Qatari riyals, a decrease of 22.1% compared to November 2019, and a decrease of 8.9% compared to October 2020.
In light of this, the merchandise trade balance, which represents the difference between total exports and imports during the month of November 2020, achieved a surplus of 9.1 billion Qatari riyals, registering a decrease of 3.4 billion Qatari riyals, or 27.4% compared to the same month of the previous year 2019, and an increase of approximately 2.0 billion Qatari riyals, or 28.6%, compared to October 2020.
In comparison between November 2020 and November 2019, the value of exports of “oil gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons” which represent (liquefied natural gas, condensate, propane, butane, etc.) decreased by 32.2% to reach about 9.5 billion Qatari riyals, while the value of “ petroleum oils and oils of continental mineral raw materials” decreased by 41.0% to approximately 2.5 billion Qatari riyals. The value of exports of “petroleum oils and oils obtained from non-raw continental mineral materials" increased by 29.6% to reach about 1.4 billion Qatari riyals.
At the level of exports, according to the main destination countries, Japan ranked first in the destination countries in relation to the exports of the State of Qatar during the month of November 2020 with a value of approximately 3.0 billion Qatari riyals, or 18.0% of the total value of Qatari exports, followed by China with a value of approximately 2.7 billion Qatari riyals, equivalent to 16.5% of the total value of exports, followed by South Korea with a value of approximately 2.3 billion Qatari riyals, or 13.9%.
In comparison between November 2020 and November 2019, the group of "jet turbines and propellers, other gas turbines and parts thereof" came to the top of the list of merchandise imports, with a value of 0.4 billion Qatari riyals, a decrease of 62.2%, followed by "cars and others" group. The automobile vehicles designed mainly to transport people "by about 0.3 billion Qatari riyals, down by 27.8%, then the group of "parts of ordinary aircraft or helicopters", with a value of approximately 0.2 billion Qatari riyals, a decrease of 47.7%.
In terms of imports, according to the main countries of origin, China ranked first in the countries of origin concerning imports to the State of Qatar during the month of November 2020, with a value of approximately 1.2 billion Qatari riyals, or 15.3% of the total value of commodity imports, then the United States of America with a value of 1.0 billion Qatari riyals, or 13.8 %, followed by India with a value of 0.5 billion Qatari riyals, or 6.5%.