Exports of engineering goods increased by 9.8 percent during the first eight months of the fiscal year 2020/2021, on an annual basis, according to the Engineering Industries Export Council. The council clarified in a statement, Monday, that exports of engineering goods recorded $1.801 billion during the first eight months of the fiscal year 2020/2021, compared to $1.639 billion in the same period of 2019/2020. The council revealed that exports climbed by 19 percent during February 2021, recording $240.5 million, compared to $202.7 million during the same month of prior year. It stated that exports of engineering goods during January and February 2021 recorded an increase of 15percent, reaching $ 460.9 million until the end of February, compared to $ 401.4 million for the same period in 2020, as exports increased for the second consecutive month significantly.
Chairman of the Export Council, Sherif Al-Sayyad, said that the engineering sectors witnessed a remarkable growth during the first two months of this year due to the high costs of shipping from China, which gave a comparative advantage to the Egyptian export sectors in engineering industries. Regarding the most important sectors that witnessed growth, the Chairman of the Council revealed that auto components recorded a growth of 11.4 percent, household appliances by 45.4 percent, cables by 38.2percent, electrical and electronic industries by 37.9 percent, and transportation by 56.2 percent. Regarding the sectors whose exports decreased in the same period, Al-Sayyad explained that electrical appliances recorded a decline by 9.1 percent, minerals by 39.7 percent, pumps, boilers, and motors by 26percent.
On the most important countries to which engineering exports increased during January and February 2021 compared to the same period last year, he indicated that exports to the United Kingdom increased by 0.3percent, Turkey 74.7 percent, France 2.5 percent, Saudi Arabia 67.9 percent, Morocco 30.6 percent, Algeria 3.3 percent, Sudan 102.7 percent, Jordan 43.2 percent, Hong Kong 100564 percent, Spain 21.3 percent, Kenya 51.6 percent, and Lebanon 341.7 percent Al-Sayyad reiterated the need to intervene and reduce manufacturing costs in Egypt by 10 to 15 percent in order to double exports by relying on a number of axes, the most important of which is the treatment of customs distortions that affect the costs of the exported product, and deepening the local component in the industry. He also referred to reaching clear provisions in the export support program requiring the return of the export burdens in a period of time not exceeding 6 months, the presence of Egyptian accreditation factors for exported goods, and the creation of means to attract foreign investments in the industries that feed the sector.