– The national foreign trade balance continues to show positive figures that project an economic reactivation.
– Trade between Chile and China grew 18% in the first months of 2022.
Chile started the year with positive foreign trade figures. According to the latest figures published by the Studies Department of the National Customs Service, national foreign trade presented positive figures for the period January-February 2022, compared to the same period in 2021.
In the January-February period the country increased its imports by 42.1% compared to 2021, having purchases for US$ 15,777 million. Likewise and in the same period, Chile’s exports presented an increase of 9.2%, with shipments of Chilean products to the world for US$ 16,017 million.
Regarding the behavior of foreign trade in February alone, exports grew 11.7% with an amount of US$ 6,882.8 million, while imports totaled US$ 7,856.3 with an increase of 36%.
Chile has one of the most open trade policies in the world, with 29 trade agreements with 65 markets representing 67% of the world’s population and 88% of global GDP. Within this framework, the country has low customs tariffs and is a member of APEC, Mercosur and the Pacific Alliance.
MAIN COMMERCIAL EXCHANGE
In the January-February period, Chile’s trade exchange with China increased by 18% when compared to 2021, with imports showing a significant increase of 58.7% by totaling purchases of US$ 5,187 million, while exports had a more moderate increase of 4.3% totaling US$ 6,702.9 million.
Exports from Chile to China were led by Copper ores and concentrates, with US$ 2,876.2 million, although this decreased by 7% compared to last year. In second place were cherries, with sales of US$ 1,288 million and an increase of 21.2%. Refined copper cathodes stood out with US$ 1,120.1 million and an increase of 5.2%.
China is the main buyer of Chilean products, with a share of 41.8% of the country’s total exports, followed by the United States with 15.6% and Japan with 8.1%. These three countries account for 65.5% of Chile’s foreign sales.
In imports, China is positioned as the main supplier of products with a share of 32.9% of total imports, followed by the United States with 16.3% and Brazil with 9.8%.