Zambia has recorded a trade surplus valued at almost K182 million (about US$10 million) in March 2020, a shift from a trade deficit of K119.5 million in February. This trade surplus means that the country exported more than it imported in nominal terms.
Zambia Statistics Agency- ZSA Interim Statistician General Mulenga Musepa has explained that exports which mainly comprise of domestically produced goods increased by 6.6%, up from K7,829.1 million in February 2020 to K8,346.4 million in March 2020.
He added that this outturn was mainly attributed to a 11% increase in export earnings from Copper and other intermediate goods. A trade surplus is good for Zambia as its a confirmation that the country exported more than it imported, which ideally results in retaining more forex into the country.
Speaking at a live stream media briefing monitored by the Zambian Business Times – ZBT on April 30,2020, Musepa said Imports increased by 2.7% from K7,948.6 million in February 2020 to K8,164.9 million in March 2020 and attributed the increase in imports to higher import bills for the Intermediate goods and Consumer goods categories by 18.4% and 7.1%, respectively.
He said traditional export (mainly copper) earnings increased by 13.8%, up from K5.6 billion in February 2020 to K6.4 billion in March 2020 adding that In terms of share in total exports, copper exports accounted for about 77% in March 2020.
Meanwhile, Non-Traditional Export (NTE’s) earnings decreased by 11.8 percent from K2,203.2 million in February 2020 to K1,943.9 million in March 2020 while in terms of share in total exports, NTEs recorded a 23.3 percent in the month under review.
And exports of copper by volume and the London Metal Exchange – LME prices for March 2020 and February 2020 indicate that the volume of refined copper exported in March 2020 increased by 13% from about 64,000 metric tonnes in February 2020 to about 72,000 metric tonnes.
“The Copper prices on the LME however decreased by 8.9 percent from US$5,686.5 per metric tonne in February 2020 to US$5,178.7 per metric tonne in March 2020,” He said.
Zambia has continued to heavily rely on copper exports with diversification efforts only coming to be prioritized when copper prices are down. As soon as copper prices increase, the country abandons the aggressive diversification drive.
Massive gold deposits found at Kasenseli, in Mwinilunga have however given Zambia’s diversification drive within the mining sector another lease of life though full operation and mining is yet to start. The delays have mainly due to lethargy and bureaucracy at the mines ministry, ZCCM Gold company and the Zambia Environmental Management Agency – ZEMA.
