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The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released today (July 25) the external merchandise trade statistics for June 2013. In June 2013, the value of Hong Kong's total exports of goods decreased marginally by 0.2%, whereas the value of imports of goods increased by 1.4% over a year earlier.
In June 2013, the value of total exports of goods (comprising re-exports and domestic exports) decreased by 0.2% over a year earlier to $277.6 billion, after a year-on-year decrease of 1.0% in May 2013. Within this total, the value of re-exports remained virtually unchanged from a year earlier at $273.2 billion in June 2013, while the value of domestic exports decreased by 10.1% to $4.5 billion. Concurrently, the value of imports of goods increased by 1.4% over a year earlier to $327.3 billion in June 2013, after a year-on-year increase of 1.7% in May 2013. A visible trade deficit of $49.7 billion, equivalent to 15.2% of the value of imports of goods, was recorded in June 2013.
For the first half of 2013 as a whole, the value of total exports of goods rose by 3.2% over the same period in 2012. Within this total, the value of re-exports increased by 3.3%, whereas the value of domestic exports decreased by 4.6%. Concurrently, the value of imports of goods increased by 4.1%. A visible trade deficit of $246.6 billion, equivalent to 12.9% of the value of imports of goods, was recorded in the first half of 2013.
Comparing the second quarter of 2013 with the preceding quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis, the value of total exports of goods decreased by 2.8%. Within this total, the value of re-exports decreased by 2.8%, while the value of domestic exports went down by 4.7%. Meanwhile, the value of imports of goods decreased by 1.3%.
Analysis by country/territory
Comparing June 2013 with June 2012, total exports to Asia as a whole dropped slightly by 0.1%. In this region, decreases were registered in the values of total exports to some major destinations, in particular Taiwan (-14.8%), the Philippines (-10.0%), India (-6.7%), Japan (-3.9%) and the mainland of China (the Mainland) (-0.2%). On the other hand, increases were recorded in the values of total exports to Vietnam (+17.6%), Korea (+8.3%) and Malaysia (+7.8%).
Apart from destinations in Asia, decreases were also registered in the values of total exports to some major destinations in other regions, in particular the United Kingdom (-4.6%), Germany (-3.1%) and the USA (-3.0%).
Over the same period of comparison, increases were registered in the values of imports from some major suppliers, in particular Thailand (+5.6%), Singapore (+5.3%), Malaysia (+3.3%), India (+2.2%) and the Mainland (+2.1%). Concurrently, decreases were registered in the values of imports from some major suppliers, in particular Switzerland (-9.9%), Japan (-3.3%) and Korea (-3.3%).
For the first half of 2013 as a whole, year-on-year increases were registered in the values of total exports to some major destinations, in particular Vietnam (+7.8%), the Mainland (+5.7%) and Singapore (+5.5%). However, year-on-year decreases were registered in the values of total exports to the United Kingdom (-9.5%), Germany (-6.1%) and Japan (-5.3%).
Over the same period of comparison, year-on-year increases were registered in the values of imports from some major suppliers, in particular Taiwan (+9.5%), the Mainland (+7.8%) and Korea (+7.6%). On the other hand, year-on-year decreases were registered in the values of imports from Japan (-11.6%), Malaysia (-9.2%) and Switzerland (-6.9%).
Analysis by major commodity
Comparing June 2013 with June 2012, decreases were registered in the values of total exports of some principal commodity divisions, in particular "professional, scientific and controlling instruments and apparatus" (by $1.6 billion or -18.9%) and "miscellaneous manufactured articles (mainly baby carriages, toys, games and sporting goods)" (by $1.5 billion or -8.1%). However, increases were registered in the values of total exports of "telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment" (by $1.8 billion or 3.5%) and "office machines and automatic data processing machines" (by $0.8 billion or 2.7%).
Over the same period of comparison, increases were registered in the values of imports of some principal commodity divisions, in particular "electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and electrical parts thereof" (by $3.4 billion or 4.0%) and "office machines and automatic data processing machines" (by $1.7 billion or 5.7%). However, decreases were registered in the values of imports of "miscellaneous manufactured articles (mainly baby carriages, toys, games and sporting goods)" (by $0.8 billion or -3.9%) and "professional, scientific and controlling instruments and apparatus" (by $0.7 billion or -8.3%).
For the first half of 2013 as a whole, year-on-year increases were registered in the values of total exports of some principal commodity divisions, in particular "electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and electrical parts thereof" (by $30.4 billion or 7.0%), "telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment" (by $26.5 billion or 9.0%) and "professional, scientific and controlling instruments and apparatus" (by $6.1 billion or 16.7%).
Over the same period of comparison, year-on-year increases were registered in the values of imports of some principal commodity divisions, in particular "electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and electrical parts thereof" (by $51.5 billion or 11.0%), "telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment" (by $18.1 billion or 6.3%) and "professional, scientific and controlling instruments and apparatus" (by $7.0 billion or 17.2%).
Commentary
A Government spokesman noted that merchandise exports remained sluggish in June amid a still-subdued global economic environment. The advanced markets stayed weak, while the Asian markets showed a mixed performance.
The spokesman commented further that looking ahead, the external trading environment will remain challenging in the near term, as the major advanced economies are constrained by their slow pace of recovery and many emerging markets have also experienced some growth slowdown. We will monitor the developments closely.
Further information
Table 1 at the annex presents the analysis of external merchandise trade statistics for June 2013. Table 2 presents the original monthly trade statistics from January 2010 to June 2013, and Table 3 gives the seasonally adjusted series for the same period.
The values of total exports of goods to ten main destinations for June 2013 are shown in Table 4, whereas the values of imports of goods from ten main suppliers are given in Table 5.
Table 6 and 7 show the values of total exports and imports of ten principal commodity divisions for June 2013.
All the merchandise trade statistics described here are measured at current prices and no account has been taken of changes in prices between the periods of comparison. A separate analysis of the volume and price movements of external merchandise trade for June 2013 will be released in mid-August 2013.
The June 2013 issue of "Hong Kong External Merchandise Trade" contains detailed analysis on the performance of Hong Kong's external merchandise trade in June 2013. Detailed merchandise trade statistics analysed by commodity and by country/territory are published in the June 2013 issue of "Hong Kong Merchandise Trade Statistics". The two publications will be available in mid-August 2013. Users can download them free of charge at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/hkstat/sub/sp230.jsp).
Enquiries on merchandise trade statistics may be directed to Trade Analysis Section (2) of the C&SD (Tel: 2582 5042).
Ends/Thursday, July 25, 2013
Issued at HKT 16:30
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