Kingdom’s exports grew 16pc last month, reveals iGA report

The Kingdom’s exports grew 16 per cent last month, reaching BD210 million against BD181m recorded during May 2018. This came as the Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA) issued its Foreign Trade Report for May 2019, which encompasses balance of trade, imports, exports and re-exports.

The top 10 countries accounted for 82pc of the total exports while others imported 18pc of goods and services from the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia was ranked first as the largest importing country from the Kingdom (BD63m), followed by the US (BD30m) and the UAE (BD21m).

Among the goods exported, agglomerated iron ores and concentrates emerged the top products (BD60m) while unwrought aluminium alloys were positioned second (BD23m). And aluminium wire stood third among the exported goods (BD19m). The report pointed out that the value of imports declined by 14pc as it reached BD419m during last month versus BD489m in May 2018. The top 10 countries accounted for 68pc of the imports.

According to the report, China is the leading exporter to the Kingdom (BD58m) and Australia came second (BD39m) while the US was ranked third (BD31m). Aluminium Oxide emerged as the top product imported to Bahrain (BD33m), while non-agglomerated iron ores and concentrates came second (BD32m).

Four-wheel drive cars stood third (BD14m) during May 2019. The report said that the value of re-exports increased by 57pc as it reached BD66m during May 2019 versus BD42m for the same month of the previous year.