Imports from China swell towards P1bn

MBONGENI MGUNI
Staff Writer | Friday October 22, 2010 00:00

The latest official figures show that by contrast, Botswana has thus far this year exported P175.3 million worth of commodities to China, resulting in a country-to-country trade imbalance of P581.7 million in favour of China.

Data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) indicates that the value of Chinese imports for the year up to July - the latest month for which information is available - outweighs annual import values for 2005, 2006 and 2007.

While imports from China from 2008 and 2009 were above the P1 billion mark, the value of imports up to July this year is expected to easily exceed these.

On a quarterly basis, imports from the Oriental titan this year have outstripped those of previous years up to 2005. For July 2010 alone, Chinese exports to Botswana were valued at P189 million, slightly above the values recorded for the twelve months of 2005. Conversely, exports to China have grown at a lesser rate, averaging about P60 million per quarter. CSO statistics, however, largely cover 2009, a year in which domestic output was hindered by the onset of the global recession. Prior to the recession, exports to China had grown from P1.67 million in 2005 to P1.5 billion in 2008. According to the CSO, major imports from China include textiles, machinery and electrical equipment and a variety of other commodities for the construction, wholesale and retail sectors. For its part, Botswana's imports to China consist mainly of copper, although the two countries have previously engaged in dialogue to widen export items, including diamonds. The July CSO figures reveal that Chinese imports are ranked third behind South Africa and the United Kingdom, who together contributed approximately 84 percent of the monthly import bill.

Meanwhile, the latest data also indicates that from a trade surplus of P206.1 million recorded in June, Botswana has again slipped into deficits, albeit marginally. The July trade balance indicates a trade deficit of P76.3 million, which is far below the deficits recorded since October 2008. 'Botswana's external trade has consistently recorded trade deficits as from October 2008 to May 2010,' the CSO said. 'June 2010 recorded a trade surplus of P206.1 million. This was however not enough to influence trade balance for the second quarter as the trade deficit for the quarter stood at P1.54 billion. July 2010 recorded a trade deficit of P76.3 million. This is much lower compared to the previous deficits, which were above P100 million.'