Zambia has for the second consecutive month recorded a trade surplus valued at K2.2 billion in April 2020, up from K359 million recorded in March 2020, indicating a 521% increase. The trade surplus means that Zambia exported more than it imported in the months of March and April 2020.
Indications from the statistics shows that the covid 19 effect of chocking consumer goods imports from South Africa may have had a bigger effect trade balance and enabling Zambia to record these consecutive trade surpluses.
Zambia Statistics Agency – ZamStats has announced that exports which mainly comprise domestically produced goods increased by 4.7% from K8.5 billion in March 2020 to K8.9 billion in April 2020.
Speaking a media briefing monitored by the Zambian Business Times – ZBT on May 28, 2020, ZamStats Interim Statistician General Mulenga Musepa explained that the increase in exports is mainly due to a 7.6% increase in intermediate goods (mainly copper and copper related products) exports earnings to K7.7 billion, up from K7.3 billion in March 2020.
He said imports decreased by 18% from about K8.2 billion in March 2020 to K6.7 billion in April 2020 and that the decrease in imports was mainly as a result of a 45% and 20% decrease in imports of Consumer goods. Zambia’s biggest consumer goods trading partner is South Africa.
He added that the total goods traded from January 2020 to April 2020 increased by about 6% to K63 billion, up from about K59 billion in the same period of 2019.
Meanwhile, Traditional Exports (mainly copper) earnings increased by about 10% from K6.4 billion in March 2020 to about K7 billion in April 2020, and in terms of share in total exports, Copper accounted for 79% of total export revenue earnings in April 2020.
Musepa also disclosed that share in total Non-Traditional Exports- NTEs (non copper exports) decreased by 12% from K2.1 billion in March 2020 to K1.9 billion in April 2020 and that in terms of share in exports, NTEs recorded a 21% in April 2020.
“Refined copper exports earnings during April 2020 rose by 8.4% to K6.7 billion in April 2020 from K6.2 billion in March 2020. And Refined Copper export volumes during April 2020 rose by 2.6% to about 74,000 tons.
And on the international commodity prices, the London Metal Exchange – LME copper prices also decreased by 2.5% to US$5,048 per ton in April 2020 from US$ 5,178 per ton in March 2020,” He added.
President Lungu has directed the finance and trade ministers to engage the major chain stores in Zambia that include Pick n Pay, Choppies, Shoprite, Spur etc with the view of increasing the proportion of locally manufactured goods with the aim of import substituting some product lines to save on forex outflow.
A committee was constituted, headed by Assistant Secretary to the treasury – Christopher Mvunga that includes the Zambia Association of Manufacturers – ZAM, the Zambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry – ZACCI, Zambia National Farmers Union – ZNFU among others but its results are yet to be made public.
The Zambian Business Times – ZBT has been informed that the process is more complex than meets the eye as some companies which are heavily marketed as local manufacturers have products which are low on local content to levels of even below 20%. More on this to follow…
