Total export volume down 5.2% in H1

Exports fell for the fourth straight month in June.

The volume of Hong Kong’s total exports of goods for the first half of the year declined by 5.2% compared to the same period last year, according to data from the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD). The total volume of imports decreased by 6.2% over the same period.

In June alone, the volume of total exports of goods fell by 10.1%, whilst the total volume of imports also declined by 8.8% over the same period--marking the fourth straight month of contraction.

In total, the volume of exports for the second quarter decreased by 0.5% QoQ, whilst the volume of imports dipped 1% compared to Q1.

Earlier, C&SD noted that the total trade exports and imports decreased by 3.6% and 4.5% respectively in the first half of the year. A government spokesman attributed the declines to a sof global economic environment, as well as the continuing trade tensions that reportedly strains on manufacturing activities and trade flows in Asia.

On the other hand, prices of total exports and total imports both climbed by 2% in H1. In June, the prices of total exports went up by 1.5% compared to June 2018, whilst the prices of imports increased 1.7%.

The terms of trade index is derived from the ratio of price index of total exports of goods to that of imports of goods. Meanwhile, the trade index or the ratio of the price index of total exports to that of total imports decreased by 0.2% in June compared to the previous year, and remained unchanged in the first half of the year.

Double-digit declines were recorded for the import volume from Korea and Singapore with falls of 21.3% and 20.9% respectively. Similarly, import volume from the Mainland China, Japan and Taiwan slipped by 8%, 5.9% and 4.1% respectively.

Over the same period, the import prices from all main suppliers increased, which include Mainland China (2.3%), Taiwan (1.7%), Singapore (1.6%), Japan (1.0%) and Korea (0.8%).