South Africa remains Mozambique’s main trading partner, but with smaller market shares, according to a new yearbook published by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
South Africa maintained its leadership in the import table in 2018 as Mozambique’s main supplier, accounting for 27.79% of foreign purchases, followed by China, which rose from third to second place (11.51%) compared to 2017, and the United Arab Emirates (7.47%), which fell one position.
On the export side, India remains as the main destination of Mozambican products (27.32% share) mainly thanks to coal, followed by the Netherlands (17.38%) which buys aluminum and South Africa, in whose basket natural gas and electricity stand out.
Neighbouring South Africa is the only country on the podium of imports and exports, but between 2017 and 2018, Mozambique’s supplier share fell from 29.03% to 27.79%, while as a customer, it saw its share fall from 18.71% to 12.24%.
Portugal maintained seventh place on the list of suppliers for Mozambique, although reducing its share of total imports from 4.22% to 3.32%.
On the other side of the balance, Portugal went on to make more purchases from Mozambique, moving from 18th to 16th place in 2018 – even so with a share of less than 1% (0.82% compared to 0.46% in 2017) in the sum of Mozambican exports.
In terms of foreign trade, the country’s trade balance deficit worsened from US$1.020 billion in 2017 to US$1.931 billion last year.
The main export products continue to be coal, aluminum bars and profiles, electricity and natural gas, with heavy sands in fifth place gaining greater preponderance over 2017.
Agricultural and fisheries products follow: tobacco, sugar, bananas, shrimp, wood, cashew, cotton and lobster.
On the import side, Mozambique mainly buys machinery, diesel and cereals.
Ten main origins of Mozambican imports in 2018 (Source: INE)
Country, value in thousands of dollars, share of imports:
1. South Africa – 1,929.724 – 27,79%
2. China – 799,466 – 11.51%
3. United Arab Emirates – 518,874 – 7,47%
4. Netherlands – 518,202 – 7,46%
5. India – 490,291 – 7.06%
6. Singapore – 282,318 – 4.07%
7. Portugal – 230,422 – 3.32%
8. United States – 217,819 – 3.14%
9. Japan – 196,196 – 2.83%
10. Thailand – 158,086 – 2,28%
Ten main destinations for Mozambican exports in 2018 (Source: INE)
Country, value in thousands of dollars, share of exports:
1. India – 1,369.232 – 27.32%
2. Netherlands – 871,052 – 17.38%
3. South Africa – 613,575 – 12.24%
4. China – 239,536 – 4.78%
5. Hong Kong – 229,981 – 4.59%
6. Singapore – 228,602 – 4.56%
7. Poland – 129,619 – 2.59%
8. United States – 121,767 – 2.43%
9. United Kingdom – 94,418 – 1.88%
10. United Arab Emirates – 91,736 – 1.83%
Source: Lusa via Club of Mozambique
