Non-oil shipments grew 9% until August, but the logistics crisis worries the export sector

The bananas recorded a 10% drop in these first 8 months, while the shrimp had a 27% rise

Non -mining non -oil exports experiencedan interannual growth of 9 % from January to last August. However, the logistics crisis that impacts the cost structure worries the export sector. In exported value, this item reached$ 10,062 millionand represented 60 % of total exports, according to theEcuadorian Federation of Exporters (Fedexpor), based on figures from the Central Bank.

However, one of the star products, the banana, recorded a decrease of -10 % in these first eight months. The shrimp, on the contrary, experienced a 27 % increase with respect to the same period of 2020.

In the non -traditional field, the fish canned item has a 10 % growth, while wood and its elaborate decreased at -26 % during the same analysis period.

Meanwhile, on the destinations, the United States continues to be the first for the non -oil offer of Ecuador. Between January and August of 2021, non -oil exports to the North American country grew by 17 %. The European Union, as a second commercial destination, registered an increase of 14 % in the same period. Unlike the two main destinations, non -oil shipments to China decreased to -4 %.

As for non -oil imports, they increased by 32 %, mainly due to growth in the importation of raw materials of 43 %, and consumer goods by 28 %.

As a consequence, the non -oil trade balance registered an unfavorable result of $ 1,119 million. However, in 2021 the total commercial balance presents a surplus of $ 1,814 million, since in the oil field there is a surplus of $ 2,933 million.

While,Felipe Ribadeneira, president of Fedexpor,He acknowledged that the sector faces one of the most complex moments in terms of competitiveness. "In recent months, the cost structure has been seriously affected as a result of several factors internally and external," said Ribadeneira.

He added that the global logistics crisis, which is causing significant increases in the cost of transferring goods worldwide, is impacting the stability of logistics chains of maritime routes, containers and ports for receiving large volumes that, due to the effect derived from the pandemic, have interruptions that dilate load and discharge times.

"This has caused that, for the Ecuadorian export sector, production and machinery supplies reflect an important increase that moves directly to the costs of export companies," lamented the president of Fedexpor, who said that raw materials such as cardboard, paper, packaging, fertilizers and several intermediate goods that serve to technify the production have substantial increases in prices and, even, even, the timely supply is risk intermittency of logistics routes that arrive in Ecuador.

For Ribadeneira, the solution depends on a coordinated action of the government that allows to relieve the "unnecessary tax surcharge" to the importation of inputs.

"To this are added distorting taxes to commercial activity such as the payment of tax for the outflow of foreign exchange that makes international freight more expensive," said the leader.