Slight drop of Algeria exports in Q1 2013

Algeria’s exports reached US$20.30 billion during the first quarter of 2013 against US$20.72 in the same period of 2012, down by 2.04%, said Algerian Customs.Imports totaled US$ 12.67 during the first three months of 2013 against US$10.66 in the same period of 2012, up 18.85%, said statistics provided by Customs on the sidelines of the 6th National Customs Executives Conference.These results are due to a surplus in trade balance to nearly US$7.63 billion against US$10.06, down over than 24%. Thus export-import ratio moved from 194% to 160% during the same period of reference.This fall in exports is due to a drop of more than 3% of hydrocarbon exports, of 28.4% of raw materials and more than 26% of industrial equipment, said the source.Raw materials and industrial equipment represented only 0.16% and 0.03% of the total structure of Algerian exports during 2013’s first quarter.