Jordan Times
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Garment exports rise by 34.8%
US tops list of buyers
AMMAN (Petra) — Foreign trade rose during the first eleven months of 2003 by 8.6 per cent but the trade deficit widened by 14 per cent compared to that of the same period last year, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.Imports increased by 9.8 per cent, exports by 4.4 per cent and reexports by 14 per cent, the ministry's figures indicated.
Garment exports rose by 34.8 per cent but those of vegetables oils and animal fat dropped by 42.2 per cent. Also declining were exports of machinery and other equipment by 43.2 per cent as well as pharmaceuticals by 12.6 per cent.
In terms of the increase in exports' value, sales to the US surged by 57.6 per cent, followed by those to Syria by 37.5 per cent.
Exports to Iraq, Israel and India declined by 35.1, 25.5 and 12.2 per cent respectively.
In terms of quantity, the US topped the list at 28.9 per cent, followed by Iraq at 12.6 per cent and India which received 8.6 per cent.
The trade surplus with the US rose to JD194.6 million compared to JD33 million in light of a 53.9 per cent rise in exports from the Qualified Industrial Zones and under the Free Trade Agreement signed between Jordan and the US.
Exports to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Syria accounted for 6.7, 4.1 and 4.0 per cent of the total respectively.
Imported crude oil increased by 18 per cent, cotton by 123.6 per cent, clothes by 18.8 per cent and dairy products, natural honey and table eggs by 43.3 per cent, the bulletin indicated.
Imports from Saudi Arabia also rose by 110.3 per cent due to the increase in oil products while those from China edged up by 35 per cent and those from Syria went up by 61.7 per cent.