TIRANA, June 19- Albanian exported goods during the first five months of 2019 fell by 3.6 percent compared to the same period last year, reaching an overall value of 127 billion lek (1 billion euros). This was influenced by a weak performance of three groups, textiles and footwear, fuel and energy, and building materials and metals. A positive impact came from machinery and spare parts, and foodstuffs.
Exports of “Minerals, fuels, electricity” recorded a decline of 24 percent, driven by the decline in energy exports due to dry weather, and by the fact that the largest exporter in the country, Bankers Petroleum, has sold more oil domestically due to its deal with the ARMO refinery.
The textile and footwear sector which accounts to nearly 41 percent of total exports, sold 51.6 billion lek (424.2 million euros) of goods, down 1.9 percent. This came due to the euro depreciation which affected company profits to fall by almost 15 percent over the last year. Contract renewals have thus been hung back, also because of the higher prices that the enterprises are asking.
Exports of construction materials and metals were 20.4 billion lek (167.6 million euros), down 9.6 percent. Sources from Kurum, the group’s largest exporter, said that in the first two months of the year the company lowered exports due to bad weather and factory refurbishment but now it has normally restarted its activity. A significant increase has marked the exports of this company to Kosovo influenced by 100 percent taxation on Bosnia and Herzegovina, which Zenica factory was the company’s only competitor in Kosovo. The demand from Kosovo has increased immediately by 15-20 percent, and it is growing on the meantime.
A significant growth by 30.4 percent are the exports of “Machinery, equipment and spare parts,” reaching 7 percent of total exports. This positive impact came from increased investments in companies that manufacture or install spare parts for vehicles, the automotive support industry experiencing thus an expansion in the Albanian market. Exports of “Food, beverages, tobacco” also saw a significant growth by 12.3 percent, accounting for 11 percent of the total exports in the country for the observed period.
But as exports of Albanian goods decreased during the first five months of 2019, the imports reached a value of 264 billion lek (2.16 billion euros), increasing by 3.4 percent compared to the previous year. Thus, the trade deficit reached the value of 137 billion lek (1.1 billion euros), increasing by 10.9 percent compared to the same period of 2018.
During this five-month period, the countries with which Albania had the largest increase in exports compared to the previous year are Kosovo (40.1 percent), Germany (0.5 percent), and North Macedonia (7,8 percent). The countries with which exports had the largest decrease, were Italy (-1.1 percent), Spain (-25.8 percent) and Greece (-7.8 percent).
