TIRANA, Nov. 1 – Albania’s trade gap continued narrowing even in September as the country’s exports rose 43.6 percent year-on-year and almost the same compared to August 2010 mainly because of the revival of the manufacturing shoe and textile industry.
Data made available by the country’s Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) foreign trade report show the trade deficit in September reached 27.2 billion lek (272 million dollars), dropping by 12.4 percent year-on-year and 11 percent compared to August 2010.
INSTAT data show Albania exported 13.8 billion lek of goods in September 2010 and imported 41 billion lek of commodities, with imports increasing by 1.7 percent compared to the previous month and 0.8 percent compared to September 2009.
Trade with EU countries continued accounting for a majority of 68.7 percent with Italy and Greece, where more than one million Albanian immigrants live and work, remaining the country’s top trade partners. Exports with Italy made up 56.7 percent of the country’s total in September while imports were reported at 28.2 percent. Neighbouring Greece remained the country’s second biggest partner with 5.6 percent of exports and 13.1 of imports.
Compared to August 2010, a considerable increase was reported in the leather products whose exports grew by 4.8 times in September followed by the “construction materials and metals” group with a 95.5 percent increase in exports and “machinery and spare parts” with 63.8 percent.
Meanwhile, “textile and shoe,” “leather,” “wood and paper” imports increased by 46.9%, 41.6% and 14.4% respectively compared to 10.3 percent for the “food, drinks and tobacco” group.
INSTAT says the import of excise goods, such as oil tobacco, alcohol, perfumes and the recently added glass and plastic packaging registered 5.8 billion lek accounting for 14.2 percent of the total imports in September, with petroleum products have the major share of 67 percent.
Shoe, textile industry
Albania’s manufacturing industry, mainly textile and footwear companies whose products are mainly exported to Italy and Greece, has overcome the crisis in 2009 and in the first quarter of this year, registering significant growth. This is confirmed by the latest Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) data which show the textile and shoe exports during the first nine months of this year increased to 41.7 billion lek (417 mln dollars) compared to around 36 billion during the same period last year, registering a 8.5 percent growth year-on-year.
The exports of this group which leads Albanian sales abroad were worth 5.2 billion lek in September 2010, up from 4.2 billion lek in September 2009.
Albania’s second biggest exports in the January-July period were “minerals, fuel and electricity,” accounting for 3.1 billion lek, almost compared with 2.2 billion lek last year, registering a considerable drop compared to previous months mainly because of the stop in electricity exports.
Considerable growth was also registered in the “construction materials and metal” exports whose exports grew to 22.6 billion lek during the January-September period this year, compared with 8.9 billion during the same period last year, according to INSTAT’s foreign trade balance sheet data.
Imports of the crisis hit construction sector have also slightly improved during this year
increasing to 55.3 billion lek in the first nine months of this year, up from 48.5 billion in the January-September 2009.
Italy continued remaining Albania’s main destination in the textile and shoe exports in the first nine months of this year with 34.4 billion lek or more than 80 percent of the total until September 2010, followed by Germany with 2.5 billion lek and Greece with 2.2 billion lek.
More than half of manufacturing businesses operating in Albania declared lower sales and profits in 2009, a recent study conducted by Albanian Center for International Trade (ACIT) has shown.
Some 57 percent of surveyed companies manufacturing for export said their sales registered a considerable drop in 2009 and in the first quarter of this year.
Falling demand in foreign markets, the increase in manufacturing costs and breach of contracts by foreign partners were the main factors contributing to the poor performance of these manufacturing businesses in 2009.
Albania’s garment industry accounts for an estimated 27% of the country’s exports and employs more than 40,000 workers.
