German Exports Recover; Trade Surplus Rises
09 Juli 2020 - 6:47AM
RTTF2
German exports recovered in May as most of the trading partners
started to ease the coronavirus containment measures, data from
Destatis revealed Thursday.
Exports grew 9 percent month-on-month in May, reversing a 24
percent decline in April. This was the first increase in three
months. Nonetheless, shipments were expected to grow at a much
faster pace of 13.8 percent.
At the same time, imports climbed 3.5 percent after falling 16.6
percent a month ago. Economists had expected a 12 percent rise.
As a result, the trade surplus rose to a seasonally adjusted EUR
7.6 billion from EUR 3.4 billion in April. This was above
economists' forecast of EUR 5.2 billion.
May trade data confirm that the V-shaped rebound is mainly
taking place in the domestic economy, Carsten Brzeski, an ING
economist said. Exports still have a long way to go before
returning to pre-crisis levels, he noted. On a yearly basis,
exports plunged 29.7 percent compared to a 31.1 percent fall in
April, Destatis reported. At the same time, imports decreased at a
steady pace of 21.7 percent in May.
On an unadjusted basis, the trade surplus decreased sharply to
EUR 7.1 billion from EUR 20.7 billion in the prior year.
The current account balance showed a surplus of EUR 6.5 billion
versus EUR 13.3 billion surplus seen in the same period last
year.
Exports to China decreased rather moderately by 12.3 percent to
EUR 7.2 billion in May.
Meanwhile, shipments to the United States, which have been hit
particularly hard by the coronavirus pandemic, plunged 36.5
percent. Exports to the UK showed a particularly strong decrease of
46.9 percent.
Exports to the EU countries decreased 29.0 percent annually, and
imports from those countries fell 25.2 percent. Likewise, exports
to Eurozone economies fell 29.1 percent and imports from those
nations decreased 25.2 percent.
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