During the month of October 2020, Belize’s imported goods were valued at $131.4 million, down by 29.1% or $53.9 million from the $185.2 million imported in October of 2019. This fall was caused by decreases in a number of categories. Most commodity categories saw reduced imports during the month, with the most significant decreases being in imports of ‘Machinery and Transport Equipment’, ‘Mineral Fuels and Lubricants’, and goods destined for the ‘Commercial Free Zones’. The ‘Machinery and Transport Equipment’ category dropped by a substantial 40% or $18.1 million, from $45.3 million in October 2019 to $27.2 million in October 2020. This was due to decreased purchases of various items, including water filters, computers and aviation equipment. Imports of ‘Mineral Fuels and Lubricants’ plummeted by 65% or over $17 million, as reductions in the imported quantities of all main fuel types, coupled with lower world market prices, drove this category down from $26.4 million in October of last year to $9.2 million in October of this year. Imports meant for the ‘Commercial Free Zones’ plunged by nearly 50%, as this category declined by more than $14 million during the month, from $30.7 million to $16.2 million, owing to smaller purchases of clothing, bags and perfumes, among other items.
The ‘Other Manufactures’ category was down by a lesser $4 million, from $14.6 million to $10.6 million, as the country bought less gold jewelry, wrist watches and plastic bottles in October of this year, when compared to that same month last year. With fewer purchases of items such as galvanized steel coils, tires and metal structures, the ‘Manufactured Goods’ category decreased by $3.8 million for the month, from $24.2 million to $20.4 million. Imports of ‘Crude Materials’ declined sharply from $4.9 million in October 2019 to a mere $1.3 million in October 2020, due mainly to a notable reduction in imports of treated pine lumber.
Only two categories, ‘Chemical Products’ and Food and Live Animals’, recorded noteworthy increases in comparison to October of last year. Owing to heightened purchases of fertilizers, disinfectants, and hand sanitizers, brought on by COVID-19, imports of ‘Chemical Products’ grew from $14.2 million in October 2019 to $17.3 million in October 2020. The ‘Food and Live Animals’ category rose from almost $18 million during last October to $20.9 million in October 2020, due to increased imports of wheat, lard (shortening), powdered milk and various other food products.
Total domestic exports for October 2020 amounted to $24.9 million, down by 5.5% or $1.4 million from the $26.3 million recorded for October of 2019. All major exports experienced decreased earnings during October 2020. Revenues from marine products declined by one-fourth or $1.7 million, from $6.9 million in October 2019 to $5.2 million in October 2020, due to diminished sales of lobster tails and shrimp. As a result of a reduction in exported quantities of sugar, revenues from this commodity dropped from $2.7 million to $1.8 million during the month. Earnings from citrus products went down marginally, from $4.2 million to $4.1 million, due to smaller exports of orange concentrate, while bananas also declined slightly from $7.9 million in October 2019 to $7.6 million in October 2020. Among the country’s other exports, earnings from red kidney beans dropped by $1.2 million, as there were no exports of this product during October of this year. In contrast, animal feed was the only domestic export to have seen a notable increase during the month, boosting earnings from this commodity from $0.3 million in October of 2019 to $1.6 million in October 2020.
Revenues from the CARICOM region fell by more than one-third, from $6.7 million in October 2019 to $4.2 million in October 2020, a drop reflective of the diminished exports of sugar, orange concentrate, and red kidney beans during the month. Earnings from the United Kingdom were down from $6.3 million to $4.8 million, also a consequence of the decrease in sugar exports for the month. Revenues from Central America, on the other hand, rose by $1.3 million, from $0.6 million to $1.9 million, a growth attributed to the favorable sales of animal feed recorded in October of this year.
