Exports up 50.0% y/y in December 2017
In December 2017, exports increased 50.0% y/y to US$ 288.2mn, imports were up 13.5% y/y to US$ 845.3mn and the trade deficit widened 0.8% y/y to US$ 557.1mn, according to GeoStat. Overall in 2017, the trade deficit was up 1.3% y/y at US$ 5.3bn as exports were up 29.1% y/y to US$ 2.7bn, while imports increased 9.4% y/y to US$ 8.0bn.
In December 2017, copper (+49.9% y/y), cars (+153.2% y/y), ferro-alloys (+38.7% y/y), spirits (+86.7% y/y) and wine (+51.2% y/y) were the top 5 exported commodities; A 23.1% of exports were directed to the EU (+14.7% y/y), 52.1% were directed to the CIS (+89.0% y/y) and 24.8% to other countries (+30.8% y/y).
Petroleum (-11.3% y/y), gases (-15.6% y/y), cars (-8.4% y/y), pharmaceuticals (+4.2% y/y) and copper (+13.9% y/y) represented the top 5 imported commodities in December 2017.
Producer price index down 0.8% m/m and up 8.7% y/y in December 2017
PPI for industrial goods was down 0.8% m/m in December 2017, according to GeoStat. A 0.6% price decrease for manufacturing contributed the most to the overall index change as prices were down for food, beverages and tobacco (-1.4% m/m) and basic and fabricated metals (-0.8% m/m).
Annual PPI was up 8.7% in December 2017. Rising prices in manufacturing (+8.5% y/y) contributed the most to the overall index change. Prices were also up for supply of electricity, gas and water (+9.2% y/y) and for mining and quarrying (+11.0% y/y).
