Coffee Helps Colombia’s 2017 Exports Rebound, but Manufacturing Lags

The latest report from Colombia’s national economic statistics agency (DANE – Departamento Administrative Nacional de Estadistica) shows that Colombian exports through August 2017 are up 15.7% year-on-year and 19.5% for the first eight months of 2017.

Antioquia once again leads all departments in the nation with an 18.8% share in total dollar value of exports (excluding petroleum), while the United States continues as the number-one destination for Colombia exports, receiving 29.1% of the total, according to DANE.

Agricultural product exports (including processed foods and drinks) jumped 22.2% year-on-year in August, while the first eight-months of 2017 saw a 13.4% rise compared to the same eight months in 2016, mainly thanks to coffee exports.

However, manufactured product exports so far this year have fallen 11.2%, the agency found. Exports to neighboring “socialist” Venezuela showed the steepest drop – down 61% this year– thanks to that country’s ever-worsening economic disaster, the DANE statistics show.

By categories, the biggest declines in exports were in chemicals, specialized machinery, non-metallic minerals and pharmaceuticals.

As for “other” Colombian exports, this sector showed a 10.4% year-on-year gain in August, mainly because of a rise in gold exports, up 11.5%.

For the first eight months of 2017, combustible product exports showed a 27% improvement year-on-year, mainly because of a jump in coal and petroleum-coke exports, DANE found.