Chilean trade accumulates US$86 billion in 2022 and exports grow 23% in May

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Chile’s trade exchange reached US$86.149 billion in the first five months of 2022, growing 20% ​​compared to the same period in 2021, according to the report prepared by the Undersecretary of International Economic Relations (Subrei) with figures from the Bank Central.

In the period from January to May 2022, Chilean exports rose to US$42.94 billion, with a growth of 12% compared to the same period in 2021. For their part, imports amounted to US$43.21 billion, with an increase 30% compared to the same months of 2021.

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Undersecretary José Miguel Ahumada pointed out that these figures “are good news since there is a recovery in the growth of exports with respect to the previous period.”

The dynamism of exports was led by the non-copper supply that reached an amount of US$22.622 billion, marking an increase of 32% compared to 2021. This increase is based on the values ​​registered by lithium carbonate, salmon, fresh cherries, fertilizers, fresh grapes, molybdenum oxide, sawn wood, poultry, avocados, potassium nitrates, and wood boards, to name a few. With this, non-copper shipments are equivalent to 53% of the country’s exports.

According to figures from the Central Bank, copper shipments totaled US$20.317 billion, experiencing a 4% drop compared to the first five months of 2021. However, the gradual reopening of Shanghai will affect the increase in Chinese manufacturing and its different productive activities which would reactivate the demand for copper from the Asian country.

Along these lines, Undersecretary Ahumada states that it is necessary “to make efforts to have an export basket with products with higher added value, which tend to have less volatility in demand and prices than less processed products.”

In the period, a total of 5,364 companies registered sales abroad, 0.4% less than in 2021. 48% of exporters are MSMEs (2,586 companies), which together generated 2% of the value exported by the country . On the other hand, 98% of the exported value was generated by 2,316 large companies.

Meanwhile, imports totaled US$43.21 billion, growing 30% compared to the first five months of 2021, showing increases above two digits in all categories of goods: intermediate (38%), consumption (28%) and capital (15%).

At the product level, the rise in imports was led by the categories diesel, chemical products, clothing, metal products, gasoline, mineral coal, automobiles, cardboard and paper, oil and fertilizers.

MAY 2022

During the fifth month of 2022, the country’s commercial exchange totaled US$18.567 billion, growing 23% compared to May 2021.

Foreign sales reached US$9.288 billion, an increase of 19% compared to May 2021, exhibiting a recovery compared to the 0.7% increase registered last April in year-on-year variation. The main drivers of the rise in foreign sales for the month were lithium carbonate, food, cellulose and the metal industry.

Imports, for their part, reached US$9.279 billion, experiencing an increase of 28% compared to May 2021. The categories of products that grew the most were diesel, chemical products, gasoline, fertilizers and natural gas.