According to the Lebanese Ministry of Industry, the value of total industrial exports by May 2017 stood at $1,012.8M, down by 5.84% compared to the first five months of 2016.
Similarly, on a monthly basis, May 2017 witnessed a 2.23% year-on-year (y-o-y) contraction in the value of total industrial exports that reached $205.9M.
Prepared foodstuffs and tobacco and Base metals and articles of base metals were the largest exported products and largest gainers among industrial exports in May 2017, as they registered annual upticks of 21.2% and 20.1%, to stand at $49.4M and $28.6M, respectively. Nonetheless, Machinery and electrical equipment and Products of the chemical industries tumbled from $54M and $23.9M to $40.1M and $21.7M, respectively, over the period.
In details, Prepared foodstuffs and tobacco constituted 24% of total industrial exports and were mainly imported by Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Greece which grasped the respective shares of 16.4%, 10.73%, and 10.4% of the total component. Machinery and electrical equipment ranked second, grasping 19.48% of total industrial exports, of which 31.13% were imported by Iraq alone. As for Base metals and articles of base metals, they were the third largest industrial product imported (13.9% of total), with Turkey and Spain notably importing 24.49% and 13.43% of the component, respectively. In turn, Products of the chemical industries constituted 10.54% of total industrial exports, of which 18.34% were imported by Iraq alone.
The primary export market for the Lebanese industrial products in May was Iraq, which imported 12.51% of total export value, followed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with the respective shares of 11.50% and 9.24% of total exports.
As for imports of Machinery and industrial equipment, they rose by an annual 12.68% to stand at $23.1M in May 2017. The imports of Machinery for the food industry ranked first, grasping a value of $6.3M, of which $1.8M were imported from Holland. Machines for printing and binding accounted for $2.3M, of which $0.9M were imported from Italy.
Main Industrial Exports in May 2016 and 2017 (in $M)
Source: Ministry of Industry