1,000 Biggest Antioquia Companies Account for 80% of Exports

A new study by the Chamber of Commerce of Medellin for Antioquia (CCMA) shows that the biggest 1,030 companies in Antioquia account for 80% of the department’s exports, worth more than US$4 billion annually.

These enterprises also represent 52% of Antioquia’s net annual investment in companies, 92% of the business asset base and 53% of manufacturing employment, according to the CCMA study.

“Large” companies as defined in the study each have at least COP19.3 billion (US$6.5 million) in assets and at least 200 employees.

“Large” companies accounted for 80% of total exports from Antioquia. Half of total exports came from sectors including bananas, electricity, plastics and clothing, according to the study.

Some 55% of these companies are concentrated in four sectors: trade, industry, financial services and construction.

 Subsectors within these four broad sectors include: commerce (17% of Antioquia’s big businesses); manufacturing (15%); finance and insurance (14%); construction (12%); real estate activities (9%); agriculture, ranching and fishing (6%); professional, technical and research activities (5%); transport and warehousing (4%); administrative services (4%); health services (3%); mining (3%); hotels and restaurants (2%); communications (2%); utilities (1%) and “other” (3%), according to the study.

“Between 2010 and 2014, the 500 largest companies of Antioquia had a positive performance, although slowing in the last year,” CCMA executive director Lina Maria Velez de Nicholls explained.

The recent slowdown meant that export growth dipped 15.6% in 2014 versus 2013, while net income among the 500 largest companies declined 5.15% year-on-year. Sales also dipped 7.46% in 2014 versus 2013 for these companies.

However, 10 of the larger companies saw their sales jump 15.6% year-on-year, while 10 of the most-profitable companies saw net income jump 39.5% year-on-year, according to the study.

Three countries – the United States, Ecuador and Venezuela –account for about 50% of exports by large companies, with the U.S. the overwhelmingly dominant destination, accounting for US$486 million worth of exports from Antioquia’s large companies, the study shows.

Ecuador came next, at US$281 million, followed by Venezuela (US$241 million); United Kingdom (US$158 million); Brazil (US$141 million); Peru (US$120 million); Italy (US$115 million); Belgium (US$78 million); Mexico (US$55 million); Germany (US$55 million); Chile (US$40 million); Costa Rica (US$35 million); Panama (US$31 million); Dominican Republic (US$21 million); and Spain (US$18 million), the study shows.

“Antioquia has great leverage for development of large enterprises,” according to the study. This leverage comes from “technical capacity, financial strength and experience in internationalization.”

However, “the challenge is to connect MSMEs” — that is, micro, small and medium enterprises — to the “dynamic” exporting companies via sponsorship, development and outsourcing schemes, according to the study.

A new “Antioquia Exports More” coalition-initiative aims to support new development. The coalition includes CCMA, Procolombia, Bancoldex, Andi, Analdex, AmCham (Colombian-American Chamber of Commerce), the Antioquia and Medellin governments, the Chamber of Commerce of the Southern Aburra Valley, the Chamber of Commerce of Antioquia Oriente, EAFIT University and Esumer, according to the study.

This new coalition-intiative also aims to boost more value-added exports from Antioquia, increase the base of exporting companies, boost business-retention in international markets, and expand the scope of international markets, according to the study.