Imports increase to June; entrepreneurs continue to strengthen productive apparatus Bogotá, D.C., August 14, 2018.
The increase in imports in the first half of the year (7%) was driven, in large part, by purchases of machinery that were made to the industry and raw materials, both for agriculture and the industrial sector. The import of machinery for the industry grew 10.9% in the first six months of the year, compared to the same period of 2017. Within this type of goods, what increased the most was the importation of ‘other fixed equipment,’ with 16.8%, concerning the same period of the previous year. The purchase of industrial machinery (7.6%), tools (5.7%) and parts and accessories of industrial machinery (3.7%) also increased. “The current trade agreements must be used to transform our productive apparatus and an indicator that businessmen understand it is the increase in the entry of capital goods,” said the Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism, José Manuel Restrepo Abondano.
The industry also acquired raw materials and intermediate products abroad, which they use for the transformation of goods. These imports increased 12.9%, compared to the first half of last year. Mining products (16.2%), non-food agriculture (14.4%), chemicals and pharmaceuticals (12.6%) and food products (7.6%) were the raw materials that increased. In the case of the raw materials used in agriculture, 20% grew for animal feed. On the other hand, only in June, when Colombian imports rose 11.9%, did they help boost the purchase of capital goods for industry, with an increase of 7%; the import of fixed equipment, with 9%, and the acquisitions of raw materials for the industry, with 17.1%.
Trade Balance
As for the deficit of the trade balance, in June it reached $ 719.2 million US, a decrease of 2.3% compared to the same month of 2017. And in the first semester, the deficit reached $ 2,849.9 million US, which It means a decrease of 27.8% compared to the first semester of the previous year.
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