Imports also fell by 12.6% in the interannual comparison, for which the red reached US$126 million.
The commercial exchange of April left a deficit of US$126 million, compared to the surplus of US$1,454 million in the same month last year, as reported by INDEC yesterday. In this way, the first quarter of the year closed with a negative balance of US$1,469 million, against a profit of US$2,840 million in 2022, a year that ended with a surplus of US$6,923 million.
The deficit in April was due to the fact that exports fell 29%, to reach US$5,891 million, while imports fell 12.6%, to total US$6,017 million.
Exports in April showed that the year-on-year drop was mainly due to lower sales of grain corn, wheat, flour and pellets from the extraction of soybean oil, crude soybean oil, among other drops.
On the other hand, foreign sales of cars for cargo transportation and those for personal use increased, among other increases.
In April, net exports, that is, sales minus purchases, of the main products and by-products derived from soybean cultivation recorded a surplus of US$732 million, US$1,311 million less than April last year.
Meanwhile, the net exports of the automotive complex had a negative balance of US$124 million, almost half the deficit of US$240 million in April last year.
Within this framework, as analyzed by the LCG consultancy, “exports of Primary Products have an alarming annual drop. For this item, it is the worst April since 2006”. And, in view of how the trade balance may evolve this year, from the firm they maintained: “The Rosario Stock Exchange continues to adjust its harvest projections downwards due to the drought that afflicts the country. Based on this, we estimate that exports could fall by around US$18,000 million, resulting in a total of US$71,000 million (20% less than those of 2022)”.
“Taking into account the lower availability of foreign currency associated with the drop in exports, they will maintain and could even deepen the controls on imports. Without room for maneuver, this cut will continue to have direct negative consequences on domestic prices and the level of activity,” they detailed.
Source: Ambito
