Petroleum and Chemical imports decline 24% and 8% YoY in August

September 29, 2020 (MLN):  The major importable goods during August 2020 were Petroleum, Machinery, Agriculture Products & Chemicals and Food as they accounted for 23%, 19%, 17% and 12% of the total import respectively.

During the month mentioned above, the import bill of Petroleum group shrank by 24% YoY but increased by 34% MoM to $745.53 million.

According to the latest data issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the main products during the month that contributed in declining Petroleum’s import bill yearly were Petroleum Products and Natural Liquefied Gas as their imports declined notably by 12% and 83% YoY respectively. Whereas, the products that increased import bill on monthly basis were Petroleum Products and Petroleum Crude as their imports surged by 21% and 138% MoM respectively.

Meanwhile, the import of Machineries witnessed a decline of 19% MoM and an increase of 28% YoY to $596.8 million during the month under review against the imports of $732.6 million in the previous month and $466 million in August 2019.

Under the Machinery group, the major portion of import was associated with Telecom machines which consist of Mobile Phones and other Apparatus as it constituted for 32% of the entire group’s import. The imports of Telecom machines surged by 89% YoY to $189.6 million, while on monthly basis, it declined by 18%.

Within the Telecom, the imports of Mobile Phones jumped significantly by 138% YoY to $158.54 million from $66.6 million during Aug FY20. On monthly basis, the import of mobile phones depicted a plunge 17%.

Similarly, the import bill of Agriculture and Chemical group which comprises of Manufactured Fertilizer, Insecticides, Plastic material, Medicinal Products, and other Agricultural and Chemical products, witnessed a decline of 8% YoY and 9% MoM to $ 543.35 million. The major chunk of imports under the Agriculture and Chemical Products was mainly in the Plastic Materials which contributed a total of 28% of the entire group's imports. Total Plastic Material imports during the period under review recorded at $543.35 million, depicting a decline of 12% YoY from $174.47 million in August FY20.

Next in line is Food group whose share in overall country’s import bill was 12% during the month under review. The major food items which Pakistan imported the most include, Palm Oil, Tea and Pulses. The imports Tea and Pulses both witnessed a decline of 11% and 10% YoY respectively, while imports of Palm Oil grew by 20% YoY. This has amplified the total group’s import bill by 19% YoY to $394 million.

The imports of other products such as Textile, Metals jumped by 76%, 11% YoY respectively while Transport group’s imports witnessed a decline of 26% YoY during August FY21.

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