According to the Ministry of Industry, the total value of industrial exports during January and February 2018 increased by 4.8% compared to the same period of the year 2017. The total value of industrial exports rose from 372.6 million US dollars in the months of January to February 2917 to 390.4 million US dollars by February 2018.
In February 2018, the main exported products were “Products of the chemical industry” with a total of 43.8 million of USD dollars up from 37.3 million US dollars.
The exports of “Base metals and articles of base metal” increased from 25.1 million US Dollars in February 2017 to 36.3 million US Dollars in February 2018. Exports of this category dropped towards Portugal and Italy markets but increased towards Turkey, Republic of Korea, Spain, and China.
Meanwhile, the exports of “machinery and electrical equipment” decreased from 37.5 million US Dollars in February 2017 to 28.5 million US dollars during the same month of 2018. Exports of this product increased to Qatar and Egypt while they fell to Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Syria
In terms of imports, the total import value of industrial machinery and equipment in February 2018 increased to 18.8 million US dollars compared to 10.7 million US dollars during the same period in 2017. In details, the Ministry of Industry’s statement details that, in February 2018, imports of machines for printing and binding, ranked first in this division, with a total value of 3.8 million US dollars.
Yearly Comparison of Industrial Exports, In Millions of Dollars
| Goods | February 2017 | February 2018 | Variation 2017/2018 | Variation in % 2017/2018 |
| Animal products | 0.49 | 0.57 | 0.08 | 15.3% |
| Vegetable products | 3.00 | 4.34 | 1.34 | 44.7% |
| Fats and edible fats and oils | 2.24 | 2.84 | 0.59 | 26.5% |
| Prepared foodstuffs and tobacco | 39.55 | 37.56 | -1.99 | -5.0% |
| Mineral products | 0.63 | 0.60 | -0.03 | -4.0% |
| Products of the chemical industries | 37.31 | 43.84 | 6.52 | 17.5% |
| Plastics and rubber and articles thereof | 11.78 | 13.33 | 1.55 | 13.2% |
| Raw hides and skins, leather, furskins and articles thereof | 0.89 | 1.22 | 0.33 | 36.8% |
| Wood and articles of wood | 0.63 | 0.28 | -0.36 | -56.1% |
| Paper and paperboard and articles thereof | 12.36 | 9.64 | -2.71 | -21.9% |
| Textiles and textile articles | 6.27 | 4.35 | -1.92 | -30.6% |
| Footwear, headgear, prepared feather | 1.27 | 1.28 | 0.01 | 0.4% |
| Articles of stone, plaster, cement; glass and glassware | 1.54 | 2.05 | 0.51 | 33.0% |
| Pearls, precious or semi-precious stones, precious metals and articles thereof (Excluding unworked diamonds, silver and gold Ingots)[1] | 7.20 | 8.26 | 1.06 | 14.8% |
| Base metals and articles of base metal | 25.09 | 36.26 | 11.17 | 44.5% |
| Machinery and electrical equipment | 37.53 | 28.49 | -9.04 | -24.1% |
| Transport equipment | 1.34 | 0.94 | -0.40 | -30.0% |
| Optical, measuring, medical, and musical instruments; clocks and watches | 1.37 | 0.68 | -0.70 | -50.7% |
| Arms and ammunition | 0.10 | 0.04 | -0.07 | -65.8% |
| Miscellaneous manufactured articles | 6.17 | 6.85 | 0.67 | 10.9% |