Trade Activity at Masnaa and Abboudieh Customs’ Offices Plummeted by August 2016

As revealed by the Lebanese Customs, trade activity at Lebanon’s main customs offices progressed during the first 8 months of the year. Total imports’ value rose by a yearly 8.52% to $12.79B by August 2016, while exports’ value marginally fell 0.81% y-o-y to $1.95B.

The breakdown of transported goods by customs’ office revealed  a shift in traders’ preferences, for the fifth year in a row, in favor of maritime and air transport, due to the lingering Syrian war and its repercussions on land transport. As such, Port of Beirut (PoB) stood first with more than two-thirds of value of goods (70.48%), followed by Rafic Hariri Airport, with a share of 21.63%, and Port of Tripoli with 5.23%.

In contrast, by August 2016, given their location between the Lebanese and Syrian Borders , both Masnaa and Abboudieh customs’ offices witnessed a downfall in the transported traded goods, as they respectively took shares of 0.19% and 0.69%.

Shares of Total Trade Value by Top Customs Offices

Source: Lebanese Customs