Italy trade surplus above expectations in September
Staff Writer |
Italy's trade surplus rose to €3.67 billion in September 2016 from €2.19 billion in the same month of the previous year and better than market expectations of €2.85 billion surplus.
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Exports rose 3.1% while imports declined 2.7%. With European Union countries, Italy registered a trade surplus of €0.78 billion, compared with a surplus of €0.41 billion euros in September 2015.
Year-on-year, exports rose 3.1% to €35.86 billion from €34.79 billion, boosted by higher sales of: Vehicles (+13.6%); pharmaceutical preparations, medicinal chemical and botanical (+7.1%); sport goods, games, musical instruments and other products (+5.7%); food, beverages and tobacco (+5.7%); and agricultural goods (+5.4%).
By contrast, exports fell for: Coke and refined petroleum products (-6.5%); and electrical equipment (-2%). By main industrial groups, sales rose for: consumer goods (+4.2%); capital goods (+3.3%); intermediate goods (+2.2%); but decreased for energy (-2.8%).
The biggest increases in shipments were reported for China (+23.3%); Japan (+18.2%); the U.S. (+11.1%); Spain (+7.3%); and Austria (+7.2%). Meanwhile, sales fell the most to OPEC countries (-10.9%), Belgium (-10.5%) and Turkey (-8.4%).
Imports shrank 2.7% to €32.19 billion from €33.10 billion in September 2015, led by a fall in purchases of natural gas (-22.1%), coke and refined petroleum products (-21.8%), crude oil (-13.7%), substances and chemicals (-11.1%) and agricultural goods (-8.2%).
Meanwhile, imports of vehicles rose 19.5%. By main industrial groups, purchases fell for: energy (-18.8%); intermediate goods (-5.8%); and consumer goods (-0.7%); while imports of capital goods rose (+6.4%).
The decline in imports mainly reflected the fall in purchases from Russia (-22.4%), Belgium (-15.2%), the US (-14.7%), India (-10.8%), and China (-8.5%).
In contrast, imports rose the most from Czech Republic (+18.3%) OPEC countries (+9.5%) and Spain (+7.3%).
With European Union countries, Italy registered a trade surplus of €0.78 billion, compared with a surplus of €0.41 billion euros in September 2015. ■
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