The trade deficit with China reached $750.2M in 2023

The trade balance with China deteriorated during 2023 and the trade deficit was close to 750.2 million dollars in 2023, despite the signing of a comprehensive strategic alliance, due to the impact of the fall in meat exports, according to the latest report from the International Business Institute (INI) of the Catholic University of Uruguay (UCU).

Excluding the free trade zone, the exports to the Asian giant were 1,666.3 million dollars last year, a year-on-year decrease of 40.1%. Instead, the imports They were 2,416.5 million, an increase of 2%.

Regarding the second semester, external sales fell 35%, with drops at the beginning and recovering in November and December. Meanwhile, imports decreased by 5.3% in that period, totaling 1,245.5 million dollars.

The impact of meat exports

The placements of meat, with frozen bovines as the star, they represented 78.5% of the total China in the second half of the year, for a total of 570.6 million dollars, which means a decrease of 14.1% compared to the same period in 2022, according to INI data.

Other products that had a similar behavior were oilseed seeds and fruits, with a decrease of 97.1%; the wood, with a drop of 11%; and the pharmaceutical products, whose exports fell by 38.8%.

There were 17 companies that exported meat to China for a value greater than 10 million dollars, being Frigorífico Las Piedras SA the one with the highest sales, with a total of 61.1 million dollars, 8.4% of the total.

Further back appeared the Frigorífico Tacuarembó SA, with placements that reached 58.3 million (8% of the total) and ONTILCOR SA, with sales of 49.8 million, which represents 6.9%.

Antel and UTE, the companies with the highest imports

In contrast, 18.8% of imports from China of the second half of 2023 were machines, appliances and electrical material, for a total of 234.6 million dollars, while 42.5% corresponded to telephones and 10.3% to televisions.

Of the total of 5,502 Uruguayan companies that acquired products for at least 1,000 dollars in the second half of 2023. Among the 13 that imported for more than 10 million, Antel and UTE were the main ones, buying for 40.3 million and 13.5 million, respectively.