Exports to major ASEAN countries declined Jan-Sept 2003

Norway’s exports of traditional commodities (all commodities excluding ships and oil platforms, for exports also excluding crude oil, natural gas and condensates) to Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand all fell during the first nine months of 2003, according to preliminary figures released mid October by Statistics Norway. Degrees of the decline start from slightly 0.6 percent for Malaysia to significantly 33.7 percent for Singapore.
     In term of imports to Norway, an increase of 14.2 percent was recorded for Thailand while the most visible decrease among the four countries was again seen in the figures for Singapore.
     Exports to Indonesia fell considerably by 13.2 percent to NOK 159.3 million between January and September 2003, compared to NOK 183.6 million the same period last year. Imports from the country to Norway decreased slightly by 1.9 percent, from NOK 528.3 million last year to NOK 518.4 million this year.
     With Malaysia, Norway recorded little changes both ways during the first nine months. The exports dropped from NOK 255.2 million in 2002 to NOK 253.8 million this year. The imports from this country rose 1.9 percent year-on-year from NOK 928.9 million last year to NOK 946.5 million this year.
     Norway’s trade with Singapore was the worst among the four ASEAN countries. Exports to the SARS-hit country slipped to NOK 1,291.7 million during the first three quarters this year, compared to NOK 1,946.7 million recorded for the corresponding period 2002. Imports from the island country meanwhile fell to NOK 497.2 million, or 6.7 percent less than NOK 532.8 million during the same period last year.
     As for Thailand, Norway witnessed significant changes in both exports and imports. A slump was seen in exports from Norway to Thailand, a 21.3-percent drop from NOK 565.8 million the first nine months last year to NOK 445.2 million the corresponding months this year. Imports from Thailand, on the contrary, grew 14.2 percent to NOK 826.0 million this year, from NOK 723.6 million in 2002.
     Norway’s total import in September 2003 was NOK 24.8 billion, up 12.1 percent from NOK 22.1 billion in the same month last year. Total export was NOK 38.4 billion, a slight increase from NOK 38.2 billion in 2002. This reduced the surplus from NOK 16.1 billion in September 2002 to NOK 13.6 billion this year.
     The accumulated figures the first nine months of this year were NOK 344.0 billion for exports and NOK 202.5 billion for imports, which were up 0.6 and 2.2 percent respectively as compared to the same period a year earlier.

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