Qatar's trade surplus almost tripled year-on-year this April, mainly triggered by an almost quadrupled non-crude shipments and almost tripled crude exports, according to the official estimates. The rebound in the country's merchandise trade has been mainly on account of robust high two-digit expansion in exports, especially to Asian countries, said the figures released by the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA). Overall, Qatar recorded trade surplus of QR12.79bn in April 2021, which was, however, down 3% month-on-month in the review period. The Asian region accounted for more than 64% of Qatar's exports with Japan, China and India occupying the first three slots; while the imports came from diversified geographies. The total exports of goods (including exports of goods of domestic origin and re-exports) were QR20.95bn, showing a stupendous 77.1% surge year-on-year but declined 5% on monthly basis in the review period.
In April this year, Qatar's shipments to Japan amounted to QR2.81bn or 13.4% of the total exports of the country, followed by China QR2.76bn (13.2%), India QR2.67bn (12.7%), South Korea QR2.12bn (10.1%) and Singapore QR1.01bn (4.8%). On a yearly basis, Qatar's exports to Japan, China and India more than doubled; whereas those to Singapore and South Korea surged 74.14% and 14.59% respectively in the review period. On a monthly basis, Qatar's exports to Singapore were seen declining 33.11%, South Korea 32.27%, Japan 18.08% and India 7.29%; while those to China was up 2.6% in April 2021. On a yearly basis, the exports of non-crude almost quadrupled to QR2.19bn and those of crude almost tripled to QR3.23bn; whereas those of petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons soared 52.6% to QR11.74bn and other non-specified commodities by 75% to QR2.96bn in the review period.
On a monthly basis, the exports of petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons fell 12.1%; while those of non-crude shot up 21.3%, other non-specified commodities by 8.6% and crude by a marginal 0.7% in April 2021. Petroleum gases constituted 58.37% of the exports of domestic products compared to 69.68% a year ago period, crude 16.06% (10.77%), non-crude 10.89% (4.34%) and other commodities 14.72% (15.29%). The country's re-exports amounted to QR0.84bn, which was down 13.6% month-on-month but grew 9.2% on a yearly basis in April 2021. Qatar's total imports (valued at cost insurance and freight) amounted to QR8.17bn, which showed a 9.2% increase on a yearly basis but shrank 8% on a monthly basis in April 2021. The country's imports from China stood at QR1.1bn, which accounted for 13.4% of the total imports; followed by the US QR1.08bn (13.3%); India QR0.61bn (7.4%), Germany QR0.43bn (5.3%) and Italy QR0.43bn (5.2%).
On a yearly basis, Qatar's imports from India and Italy more than doubled, while those from the US and Germany expanded 5.88% and 5.34% respectively. The shipments from China tanked 25.17% in April 2021. On a monthly basis, the country's imports from Germany plummeted 38.96%, Italy 13.59%, China 6.76% and India 0.33%; whereas those from the US was seen gaining 17.08% in the review period. In April this year, imports of turbojets and turbojet propellers amounted to QR0.49bn; motor cars and other motor vehicles QR0.36bn; electrical apparatus for line telephony at QR0.28bn; and other non-specified commodities at QR7.05bn.