According to the Lebanese Ministry of Industry, the value of total industrial exports in the first 2 months of 2019 contracted by 1.43% year-on-year (y-o-y), to settle at $384.8M by February 2019. As for the value of total industrial imports, it also declined by a yearly 1.17% to hit $42.3M over the same period.
On a monthly basis, the value of total industrial exports in February 2019 registered an annual uptick of 0.74% to reach $204.9M. As such, the main exported products during the month entailed “Machinery and electrical equipment” (grasping 21.33% of the total) which climbed by 53.3% thereby constituting the month’s top gainer, and it ended the month standing at $43.7M. Iraq was on top of importers list of this product, with an import value of $8.2M (18.76% of the total). In turn, “Prepared foodstuffs and tobacco” slipped by 6.7% y-o-y, to $43.76M. “Products of the chemical industries” was February’s top loser, as it reached $21.1M in February 2019 compared to $43.8M in the same period last year.
In details, “Prepared foodstuffs and tobacco” grasped an 18.89% stake of total industrial exports, of which $6M were exported to Saudi Arabia. As for “Products of the chemical industries”, it grasped 10.30% of total exports, with $4.55M exported to UAE.
In February 2019, the Arab countries constituted the main market for Lebanon’s industrial exports with a total export value of $120.7M. Particularly, UAE, Syria and Saudi Arabia were the major importers, grasping shares of 12%, 10.5%, and 9%, respectively of the total export value.
In terms of imports of industrial machinery and equipment, they slumped by a yearly 26.60%, to settle at $13.8M in February. In details, “Machines Used in Packaging” (13.04% of total imports), ranked first with a total value of $1.8M whereby Lebanon imported 61.11% from Italy alone. In their turn, imports of “Machines for Metal Products Industry” took the second place, amounting to $1.6M, with 32.25% imported from China.
Yearly Comparison of the Main Industrial Exports in February
Source: Ministry of Industry in Lebanon