The report from the Inter-American Development Bank signals the end of the post-Covid-19 momentum in the entire region, although Uruguay is one of the countries that fell back the least.
exports of goods from Uruguay and Latin America are facing a moment of sharp slowdown after the post-Covid-19 momentum ended: in the first quarter of 2023 they increased only 2.9%when growth a year ago had been 16.4%.
This is indicated by a report Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)which reported a situation marked, mainly, by the lower prices of basic products such as oil, coffee and iron, as well as the weakening of exported volumes, although he highlighted that the commercial performance of the region was superior to the world average.
In South America, exports fell by 0.3% in the first quarter of the year, with most of the countries in the region presenting negative numbers. Uruguay, among them, although it was the one that suffered the least setback. Thus, the country presented a fall of 3.5%while Colombia and Peru they fell 4.7% and 4.8%, respectively. exports of Ecuador they fell 7.7%; those of Argentina, 17.9%; those of Venezuela, 20.2%; and those of bolivian, 23.5%.
The only South American countries that experienced growth in their exports were Paraguayan (+23.4%), Chili (+10.7%) and Brazil (+4.8%).
Also the imports Latin America slowed down in the first quarter of 2023, registering 0.6% compared to 21.1% in the same period of 2022.
According to the economist Paolo Giordano, coordinator of the study, “the expansive business cycle” that occurred after the Covid-19 pandemic has concluded. Also, he pointed out that the decelerating trend of exports It will probably continue in the second quarter, but the situation will stabilize in the second half of the year.
The export results for May
The exports of goods from Uruguay had a strong year-on-year decline in the month of May, with a drop in 31% compared to the same month last year as reported by Uruguay XXI, reaching a decrease of 14%
This performance is explained, on the one hand, by lower exports of beef, which have fallen both in volume and in price. It must be made clear that the performance of this sector last year was exceptional, due to the very high volumes and record prices achieved.
On the other hand, the export figures are reflecting the collapse of soybean production due to the drought of this year, which is being seen conclusively in the figures for May and will continue to be seen in the coming months.
In this context, Uruguay XXI disclosed a projection of export performance for the entire year, precisely incorporating the aforementioned factors and projections for the rest of the main items. The agency estimates that exports of Uruguay will reach US$ 11,920 million, which would imply a decrease in eleven% compared to last year.
Source: Ambito
