A more-than-quadrupled shipment of non-crude and a more-than-tripled growth in crude, apart from a robust high double-digit surge in its oil and gas, helped Qatar register a more than three-fold rise in trade surplus year-on-year this May, according to the official estimates. The rebound in the country's merchandise trade has been mainly on account of a robust more-than-doubled exports of domestic products amidst a low-single digit growth in imports, according to figures released by PSA, or the Planning and Statistics Authority. The exports destinations were mainly the Asian countries and the UAE; while imports came from diverse geographies. Overall, Qatar recorded trade surplus of QR16.61bn in May 2021, which showed a 29.9% month-on-month increase in the review period. The total exports of goods (including exports of goods of domestic origin and re-exports) were QR24.91bn, showing a stupendous 87.8% and 18.9% surge year-on-year and month-on-month in the review period.
In May this year, Qatar's shipments to China amounted to QR3.59bn or 14.42% of the total exports of the country, followed by Japan QR3.58bn (14.36%), South Korea QR2.78bn (11.20%), India QR2.67bn (10.7%) and the UAE 1.8bn (7.2%). On a yearly basis, Qatar's exports to the UAE soared about five-fold and those to Japan more than doubled; whereas those to China expanded 92.19%, India 84.44% and South Korea 31.89% On a monthly basis, Qatar's exports to the UAE was seen surging 79.08%, South Korea by 30.9%, China by 29.98% and Japan by 27.21%; while those to India was down 0.04%. The exports of non-crude more than quadrupled year-on-year to QR2.45bn, crude more than tripled to QR4.04bn, other non-specified commodities by 98.2% to QR3.31bn and petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons by 70.1% to QR14.01bn in the review period. On a monthly basis, the exports of crude shot up 25.4%, petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons 19.4%, non-crude by 12.2% and other non-specified commodities by 11.7% in May 2021. Petroleum gases constituted 58.82% of the exports of domestic products compared to 69.89% a year ago period, crude 16.96% (11.37%), non-crude 10.29% (4.66%) and other commodities 13.9% (14.16%).
Qatar's total imports (valued at cost insurance and freight) amounted to QR8.3bn, which showed 4.7% and 1.7% increases on a yearly and monthly basis respectively in May 2021. The country's imports from China stood at QR1.45bn, which accounted for 17.5% of the total imports; followed by the US QR1.04bn (12.5%); Germany QR0.66bn (8%), India QR0.49bn (5.9%) and Italy QR0.46bn (5.5%). On a yearly basis, Qatar's imports from India and Italy more than doubled; while those from Germany soared 91.59% and China 37.37%. The imports from the US declined 50.52% in May 2021. On a monthly basis, the country's imports from Germany zoomed 52.3%, China 32.36% and Italy 7.75%; while those from India and the US shrank 19.11% and 3.96% respectively in the review period. In May this year, imports of motor cars and other motor vehicles amounted to QR0.38bn; turbojets and turbojet propellers amounted to QR0.34bn; electrical apparatus for line telephony at QR0.21bn; and other non-specified commodities at QR7.38bn. The country's re-exports amounted to QR1.09bn, which plunged 25.8% year-on-year but grew 29.7% on a monthly basis in May 2021.