Concurrently, increases were registered in the values of domestic exports of many principal commodity divisions, in particular "clothing" (by $2.0 billion or 72.6 percent) and "office machines and automatic data processing machines" (by $552 million or 50.9 percent). However, a decrease was registered in the value of domestic exports of "electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and electrical parts thereof" (by $694 million or 36.6 percent).
Over the same periods of comparison, increases were registered in the values of imports of many principal commodity divisions, in particular "telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment" (by $2.5 billion or 10.7 percent), "electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and electrical parts thereof" (by $2.2 billion or 4.7 percent) and "petroleum, petroleum products and related materials" (by $2.0 billion or 51.0 percent).
Commentary
A Government Secretariat spokesman noted that merchandise exports reverted to a slight decline in May over a year earlier. This was partly due to a high base in the same month last year, as external demand still held up generally well. Taking April and May together, a growth of 4.4 percent was still recorded.
The spokesman further pointed out that although a number of uncertainties in the external environment have been looming, including the stepping up of macroeconomic tightening in the Mainland, possible slow down of the US and theEuropean economies amidst rising interest rates, high oil prices, and persistent global trade imbalances, it is too early to conclude whether a slow down in export growth is evident.
In fact, for the first five months of 2006 as a whole, there was still an 8.9 percent increase. More data are needed to discern the trend.
Census and Statistics Department
marketing@alchempro.com
