The total value of industrial exports added an annual 3.6% to reach $2.1B by October 2018, as per the Lebanese Ministry of Industry.
In the month of October 2018 alone, the value of total industrial exports rose by 5.9% year-on-year (y-o-y) to stand at $240M.
In details, the month’s top exported product was “Machinery and electrical equipment”, which added a yearly 24.5% to $54.5M. The top importer of this product was a new entry on Lebanon’s list of importers of industrial goods, Hong Kong, which imported $10M worth of the component, followed by Syria and Iraq with importing values of $8.7M and $4.2M, respectively. “Products of the chemical industries” were the second most exported category and recorded the largest uptick of 41.9% y-o-y to $45.5M during the same period. Bangladesh, also a new entry, was the largest importer of this product, with an import value of $16.4M, followed by the UAE and Iraq with values of $4.8M and $4.7M, respectively. Exports of “Base metals and articles of base metal” followed, recording an annual increase of 4.3% to $33.3M in October 2018. Turkey, Republic of Korea, and Greece were the 3 largest importers of the component, importing a value of $7.3M, $4.8M and $2.7M, respectively. Meanwhile, exports of “Prepared foodstuffs and tobacco” recorded an annual downtick of 35.5% to $30.2M in October 2018. The decline can be attributed to the lower imports by each of Syria, Egypt, The United States Of America and Qatar over the same period.
In a regional breakdown, the top export markets for Lebanon’s industrial products were the UAE which imported 9.7% of the total industrial exports (or $23.28M) in October 2018, followed by Syria and Bangladesh which grasped 9.5% (equivalent to $22.9M) and 6.8% (or $16.39M) of total industrial exports, respectively.
In terms of imports, the total import value of industrial machinery and equipment in October 2018 increased by 9% to $24.5M. In details, the report details that the imports of machines used in packaging ranked first, with a total value of $8.4M, of which $4.9M were imported from Germany.
Main Industrial Exports in October 2017 and 2018 ($M)
Source: Lebanese Ministry of Industry