The sale of primary products (PP), especially wheat and corn, decreased 42.5%; and fuels and energy (C&E), 5.2%; while manufacturing of industrial origin (MOI) increased 12.5%; and manufactures of agricultural origin (MOA), 1%.
Meanwhile, imports rose 2.5% compared to January 2022 to add US$5,384 million, due to a 3.2% increase in prices, since quantities fell 0.8%.
At the level of economic use, purchases of fuels and lubricants (CyL) rose 96.1%; and parts and accessories for capital goods (PyA), 21.4%.
For their part, imports of the so-called “rest” fell 31.3%, mainly due to the lower purchase of goods dispatched through postal services (couriers); capital goods 12.3%; passenger motor vehicles 11.8%; intermediate 10.5%; and consumption 8.1%.
If the prices of the same month of the previous year had prevailed, the trade balance would have shown a deficit of US$396 million. Under this assumption, and given the 3.2% increase in the prices of imports, against 1.6% of exports, the country registered a loss in the terms of trade of US$74 million.
During January, the exchange with Mercosur registered a negative balance of US$381 million. Exports reached US$924 million and were 8.2% higher than the same month of the previous year, mainly due to an increase in MOA and MOI sales.
79.6% of the total was destined for Brazil; 10.4% to Uruguay; 8.7% to Paraguay; and 1.3% to Venezuela, while trade with Mercosur represented 18.9% of exports and 24.2% of total imports.
Trade with the European Union had a deficit of US$249 million, while exports totaled US$609 million, with a year-on-year decrease of 25.6%, particularly due to lower MOI sales. Imports were for US$858 million, with a rise of 1.9%.
Source: Ambito
