28-03-2021
The Planning and Statistics Authority issued its preliminary report on foreign trade statistics for the month of February 2021, as the report includes data on exports (of local origin and re-exports) and imports, and the following is a brief presentation of the data:
During February 2021, the value of total Qatari exports (which includes exports of local origin and re-exports) amounted to approximately 20.6 billion Qatari riyals, a decrease of 2.8% compared to February 2020, and a decrease of 3.2% compared to January 2021.
On the other hand, the value of merchandise imports decreased during February 2021, to reach about 7.4 billion Qatari riyals, recording a decrease of 4.4% compared to February 2020, and a decrease of 4.7% compared to January 2021.
In light of this, the merchandise trade balance, which represents the difference between total exports and imports during February 2021, achieved a surplus of 13.2 billion Qatari riyals, recording a decrease of 0.3 billion Qatari riyals, or 1.9% compared to the same month of the previous year 2020, and a decrease of approximately 0.3 one billion Qatari riyals, or 2.3%, compared to January 2021.
In comparison between February 2021 and February 2020, the value of exports of “oil gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons” which represent (liquefied natural gas, condensate, propane, butane, etc.) decreased to about 13.4 billion Qatari riyals, by 3.4%, and the value of “petroleum oils and mineral raw material oils " decreased to reach about 2.5 billion Qatari riyals, or 21.3%. The value of exports of "petroleum oils and oils obtained from continental non-raw mineral materials " increased to about 1.3 billion Qatari riyals, or 23.8%.
In terms of exports according to the main destination countries, South Korea ranked first in destination countries in terms of exports of the State of Qatar during February 2021, with a value of approximately 3.7 billion Qatari riyals, or 17.7% of the total value of Qatari exports, followed by Japan with a value of approximately 3.6 billion Qatari riyals, i.e. It accounts for 17.5% of the total value of exports, then India with a value of approximately 3.5 billion Qatari riyals, or 17.0%.
By comparison between February 2021 and February 2020, the group of "cars and other automobile vehicles designed mainly to transport people" came to the top of the list of commodity imports, with a value of 0.3 billion Qatari riyals, with an increase of 23.2%, followed by a group of "jet turbines and propellers, others gas turbines and parts thereof “ by about 0.3 billion Qatari riyals, down by 48.3%, and the group of “ordinary aircraft parts or helicopters”, reaching a value of approximately 0.2 billion Qatari riyals, with a decrease of 25.5%.
In terms of imports according to the main countries of origin, China ranked first in the countries of origin in terms of imports to the State of Qatar during the month of February 2021, with a value of approximately 1.2 billion Qatari riyals, or 16.5% of the total value of commodity imports, then the United States of America with a value of 0.8 billion Qatari riyals, or 11.1%, followed by Belgium with a value of 0.5 billion Qatari riyals, or 6.4%.